Truce
by Emery3842
Summary: Arthur finds out some less than desired news from Uther. Merlin is trying to keep Arthur safe. Gwen is in love with Merlin. Morgana despises Arthur. Not Merlin/Arthur slash.
1. Chapter 1

No Merlin/Arthur slash! I am sorry if you are a fan, but I just can't see anything other than friendship between them. In my story, they have gotten past the initial tension and are becoming friends. So, all of those snarky arguments we love will be present.

Gwen is a maid. Uther is alive and King. And Morgana will come in later to bother Arthur and perhaps be a love interest??

Please let me know what you think. I had to be the r/r person, but constructive comments are very welcome.

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, Arthur, or any of the other wonderful characters.

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The whispers were flying fast around the castle, Prince Arthur was in one of his foul moods again, but what no one could figure out was why…not that he usually needed a reason. Although thankfully for the occupants of the castle, Arthur had ridden away just after sunrise and hadn't been seen since, not even by his manservant, Merlin.

"You are home early," Gaius looked up in surprise as Merlin entered the small room where Gaius was working on some new potions.

"That smells awful. And Arthur left early, before he could order me about," Merlin grabbed an apple as he kicked his feet up onto the table Gaius was working on. He managed to get one bite of his apple, before he glanced up to see Gaius staring at him. Swallowing hard, Merlin quickly took his feet off the table.

"So, any idea where Arthur went?" Gaius asked while intently reading the next ingredient.

Merlin tossed his apple core into a bin and turned to Gaius, "Not a clue. I am sure he will be back soon though. He didn't take his hunting pack."

"I would steer clear of Uther for a while then. I heard from a maid that Arthur left after having a meeting with his father. Uther wouldn't be happy to find out that Arthur's servant can't keep track of him."

Merlin didn't bother withholding the scoff that quickly came out of his mouth. "Yeah, like Uther honestly cares. I mean, the only time Uther notices Arthur's existence is when he needs Arthur to do something," Merlin was so busy ranting about Uther that he didn't notice Gaius trying to signal him with his eyes, or the creak of the door. "Sometimes I think Arthur would be better off.."

"Just how would Arthur be better off?" Merlin spun around to see Uther standing in the doorway of Gaius's apartments. Uther had been coming up to Gaius' because his shoulder had been bothering him more than usual and he wanted a stronger dose of arnik. "I am waiting."

"I uh…….what I meant was……" Merlin let out a sigh, "the stocks or a cell?"

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After almost a full day of riding, Arthur had finally calmed down enough to return to Camelot. He acknowledged the guards, posted at the gates, with a slight nod of his head has he rode by. Yet he soon realized that the crowd was abnormally thick through the center of town. Curiosity getting the better of him, Arthur dismounted and began weaving his way to the front of the cheerful crowd. Once he got through the mass, he noticed a familiar head of black hair. Dodging the rotten fruit being thrown towards the stocks, Arthur didn't wait for the person to look up, but promptly smacked him upside the head.

"Hey! You are only supposed to throw food!"

"Merlin," at which Merlin's head shot up, "don't you know by now, the rules don't apply to me."

"Of course they don't," Merlin rolled his eyes, "after all, you are a roy…" Merlin trailed off when saw Arthur raise his eyebrows. "Right, shutting up now."

Arthur allowed himself a small smile before becoming serious again. "Do you mind telling me why my servant is in the stocks instead of waiting for me to return?"

Merlin didn't know what to tell Arthur. Obviously Arthur knew there were only a few people who could have him thrown in the stocks, but Merlin didn't want to make the tension between Uther and Arthur grow. There was something going on between the two of them right now, and Merlin thought that all of Camelot would come after him if he put Arthur into a worse mood. "It was just a misunderstanding?"

Looking hard at Merlin for only a few seconds, Arthur was sure it was his father who had him put in the stocks. "Right," Arthur managed to drag the one word out, "and you are going to beat me in practice. Oh! I know! And you know magic too. Come on Merlin, don't try to keep a secret, you are horrible at it."

Frozen, Merlin couldn't say anything. Arthur had unknowingly blurted out the biggest secret Merlin had. Knowing he had to say something before Arthur caught on to his silence, "You're right, I am bad at keeping secrets. Uther just happened to hear me ranting. You know, this wouldn't have happened if you had told me where you were going."

"I knew it was him! He can't just go around throwing you in the stocks, that's my job!" While Arthur was really just looking for excuses to build on his anger towards Uther; he was slightly annoyed that his father thought he could go around throwing HIS servants in the stocks. Lost in his thoughts about Uther, Arthur barely missed a tomato flying towards Merlin. Unfortunately for Merlin, the same tomato Arthur dodged hit him square in the face. Arthur decided that he was going to have a talk with his father about this and started to leave without a word.

"Arthur! Arthur wait! Where are you going?" Merlin asked while spitting out a mouthful of tomato seeds.

Turning slightly, Arthur replied, "I am going to go talk to Uther about," he waved his hand vaguely at Merlin, "this."

To Merlin's chagrin, Arthur started walking away again. "Hold on, you can get me out of here right now! Just tell the guards and they will let me go!"

Arthur stopped once more, "You know, I rather like you in there. I find you much more amusing." At this Arthur grabbed another tomato from a nearby peasant and chucked it at Merlin's head.

"Ha! You missed." Merlin was indeed correct, Arthur had missed by a few inches, the tomato landing above Merlin's head. But while Merlin was gloating, Arthur just waiting with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. "For being so fond of hunting, you really have poor aim."

It was then that Merlin noticed the tomato juice dripping down his face. Arthur gave Merlin a sarcastic nod of his head before spinning around, still intending to confront Uther.

"Oh, come on! Arthur!"

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Next chapter: Arthur's talk with Uther. Gwen makes her appearance. Merlin is…well Merlin.

What do you think?


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you everybody who commented. It was so nice to log on and see all of the encouraging comments. :D

King Cendrid is the ruler of the kingdom that Ealdor is in. Although, unlike in "The Moment of Truth" (which hasn't taken place yet), Camelot and Cendrid's kingdom have no alliance. Since I don't actually know the name of the kingdom, I am going to use Valeska.

Now, on with the story.

Disclaimer: Still haven't figured out how to buy the plot and cast of Merlin. I am working on it though.

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It was only a few hours later that Merlin found himself walking through the halls of the castle, brushing off seeds and bits of lettuce off his shoulder as he went. He wasn't too angry at Arthur, after all, it was _his_ big mouth that got him thrown into the stocks to begin with. However, it would have been nice of Arthur to get him out of them. Merlin scoffed to himself, yeah right, like Arthur would give up the opportunity to make fun of him. And despite Arthur leaving him in the stocks, Merlin did hope for Arthur's sake that his meeting with Uther was going well.

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While Merlin was silently wondering how Arthur was doing, Arthur was pacing the length of the throne room, waiting for his father. Unfortunately for Arthur's anger, Uther had been occupied for the past few hours, giving Arthur ample time to stew.

"My lord, I brought you something to drink."

Arthur turned around to see a young woman setting down a tray with a goblet of wine on top. Arthur had seen her about the castle and had seen her hang around with Merlin, but he couldn't put a name to the face. "Thank you…." he let it hang, hoping she would fill in the blank.

"Guinevere, my Lord, but most people call me Gwen. I mean…if that's what you want…" Gwen blushed. She hated the fact that she became so flustered, so easily.

Arthur didn't know how to respond to the obviously nervous maid, so he just readily downed the much needed drink. Once he was done he noticed Gwen slip away at the same time as the throne room doors were thrown open.

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Uther had spent the majority of the day with ambassadors from Valeska, King Cendrid's kingdom. For many years, Valeska and Camelot had been pitted against each other, mostly over the petty disputes of their Kings. It was Arthur who had been pushing him to make contact with Cendrid for months now. However, when a truce was finally being struck, Arthur wasn't happy with it. While Uther sympathized with Arthur's anger, there was going to be no turning back, the treaty was in the best interest of Camelot and it would only be a matter of time before Arthur saw that.

"I was told you were waiting here for me," Uther stated while walking past Arthur. Uther knew that he going to be subjected to yelling when he heard Arthur breathing heavily.

"Just when exactly were you told that?" Arthur clipped out. "Because I have been waiting here for three damn hours!" Arthur continued his pacing for a few more moments while Uther settled down on his throne. "You…." he began.

"Me?"

Arthur suddenly stopped his pacing and jabbed his index finger at Uther, "Yes you! You had no right to have that treaty drawn up without consulting me!"

Uther rose quickly and stormed up to Arthur, "I was unaware that I needed to consult you at all. Need I remind you that, I am King, not you! And you would do well to remember it!"

Father and son stood mere feet away from each other, each breathing like they had just competed in a tournament. It was Uther who broke the silence first, "I know you are not happy with the treaty Arthur, but it is for the good of Camelot."

"No father, what would have been best for Camelot is if you hadn't entered into this stupid war with Cendrid to begin with!" Arthur found his irritation rising again. But before he had a chance to continue, Uther exploded.

"That is enough! I have tried being understanding, but I will not have you questioning the way I rule. When you are King, you can decide which wars to partake in. Until then, you will follow orders, and that includes following through with the treaty." Uther made his way back to his throne and sat down.

"King Cendrid's daughter, Morgana, will be coming to Camelot as my ward and that is final."

Turning on his heel, Arthur strode out of the throne room and immediately began towards Gaius' living quarters.

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It took only minutes for Arthur to reach his destination, after noticing light coming from under the door, he opened the door while knocking. Barely acknowledging Gaius, Arthur went up to Merlin's door and swung it open.

"Merlin! I want you to polish my armor for tomorrow, we're practicing your mace work," Arthur barked out the order before he had fully entered the room. Arthur hadn't known what he was going to say when he got up to Merlin's room, but he decided that if he was going to be miserable, then Merlin should be as well.

Merlin sat up quickly and tried to hide his spell book underneath his pillow before Arthur noticed it. Luckily, Arthur was too busy looking around the room in disgust to bother noticing a book. Merlin was already pulling on his boots when a question popped into his head, "Why would you want me to polish your armor if we are just going to be practicing?

"Why haven't you gotten it through your thick skull that I give the orders, and you follow them? Honestly, I don't think I could have found a more incompetent servant if I had tried." Arthur knew he was being a prat, but at the moment he couldn't help but resort back to his old ways. He thought he might have gone too far though when he heard Merlin's short answer.

"It will be clean by morning." Merlin wasn't truly hurt by Arthur's statement, he had long ago realized Arthur's tendency to lash out when he was upset by something. It was only a matter of time before he calmed down and was ready to talk.

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The next morning Arthur woke up to see Merlin bringing in his freshly polished armor. It took only a few seconds for a wave of guilt to spread through Arthur. The entire way back to his room the previous night, Arthur had thought about Merlin's clipped answer. He came to the conclusion that even though he was angry, he shouldn't have ordered Merlin to stay up and polish his armor.

"About time you woke up," Merlin stated when he saw that Arthur had finally awaken. "You should sleep this late all the time, it meant that I wasn't late."

Arthur stared at Merlin for a minute, trying to gauge whether or not all was forgiven for his previous attitude. He was still on the edge till Merlin flashed him a small smile. "Yeah, well don't get used to it." Arthur paused, pretending to think, "You know, if you got more sleep, then you would probably get here on time."

"I would do that, except some prat keeps giving me chores to do all night. Think I should tell him to shove off?"

Arthur cracked a smile, something that was very rare the day before. "Unless you want more mace practice, I wouldn't if I were you."

"Let's not then," Merlin blurted out while visibly paling. He began to help Arthur dress and as he was sliding on Arthur's jacket he had to ask, "So, do you want to tell me know why you were throwing a tantrum yesterday? Or are you just going to wait till you're beating me with a mace?"

Arthur's humor quickly disappeared. He didn't know whether or not he should tell Merlin about the treaty. Certain aspects of it were never going to be made public. Did he trust Merlin enough to keep it a secret?

His decision made he began to speak, "My father has drawn up a treaty with King Cendrid of Valeska to end the war between Camelot and Valeska."

"Arthur, that is fantastic. Why would that…"

"As part of the treaty, Princess Morgana will be coming to Camelot as my father's ward."

Merlin was stumped, he didn't see why Princess Morgana coming to Camelot would anger Arthur so much. "And….?"

Arthur scoffed, "You don't get it do you."

Shaking his head, Merlin replied, "Not in the slightest."

"Morgana isn't coming here just to be my father's ward. As the final part of the treaty…"

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"Arthur Pendragon! You have got to be kidding me! I will not marry him." Morgana flew out of her chair and stared at her father.

"Now Morgana, this isn't about you, it's about Valeska. We are running out of supplies and troops. We can no longer fund a war between us and Camelot."

"So, I am to be sold to Camelot, to end a war that we shouldn't have started in the first place?"

"If you care to look at it that way, then yes." Cendrid didn't sympathize with Morgana, this was an easy way to get out of the war. It was only a matter of time before he had to find a husband for Morgana anyways. And most kingdoms were scrambling for an alliance with Camelot.

Morgana understood that she didn't really have a choice, Valeska needed the war to end. That knowledge didn't stop her bitterness though. Halting her pacing she faced her father once more, "I have never even seen him, how do you expect me to marry him?"

Cendrid and Uther had been prepared for their children to balk at the idea of marrying each other. "Dear Morgana, that is why you are going to Camelot as King Uther's ward. You need not marry Arthur till the two of you are ready."

King Cendrid hesitated a moment to make sure Morgana was listening, "However, I strongly recommend that you become ready as soon as possible."

Understanding the clear message, Morgana swiftly decided to ignore it. She would hold off a marriage with Arthur of Camelot as long as she could. "Of course father."

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Don't worry, Morgana and Arthur are not going to fall madly in love anytime soon. That just isn't as much fun.

And sorry about the lack of Gwen. I couldn't find a good place to put some interaction between Merlin and her. I will work on that for the next chapter.

Honest responses are more than welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

Wow, thank you all for the reviews! I never realized the effect that reviews had on a writer. :D

Just to clear up any issues, I am not going to do a play by play of the show. I may grab some events from previous episodes, but I am really going to work on adding in new material.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Merlin or it's cast.

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Merlin had managed to elude mace practice the previous afternoon, but only because Arthur was called away to handle a situation in the guard rotation. Today he wasn't so lucky and he found himself strapping armor on, that didn't quite fit him.

"Are you ready yet?" Arthur finally asked, having grown impatient. "I swear you have been working on that for ages."

"If you wanted to practice with somebody who was good, then you could always ask one of your knights," by now Merlin had gotten the armor on to the best of his ability, but he wanted to draw out the process as long as possible.

Arthur swung his mace around and scoffed, "As if _I _need the practice. No Merlin, this is for _your _benefit."

"And how exactly is you beating me for my benefit?" Merlin stopped pretending to buckle a strap long enough to look at Arthur in disbelief. They had been at this for weeks, and Merlin wasn't getting any better.

"Well, if you were a normal person, you would be getting just a little bit better," Arthur glanced at Merlin, while continuing to swing his mace. "However, since you are a bit dim, and as agile as a rock, we will call it character building. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be…"

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After one of the longest hours in Merlin's life, he found himself sprawled out on the grass at the edge of the practice field. Even though all of Merlin's energy was spent, Arthur looked like he could continue on all day.

"Please," Merlin gasped out, "stop."

"Tired Merlin?"

Unable to catch his breath long enough to answer, Merlin just bobbed his head a few times. Merlin prepared to get back up on his feet as he saw Arthur walking towards him, but relaxed moments latter when Arthur sat down on the field next to him. Neither boy wanted to break the silence; Merlin because he didn't want to continue the mace work, and Arthur because he didn't know what to say.

"So," Arthur began hesitantly, looking out across the land, "you said you were from Ealdor, right?"

Merlin could see where this line of questioning was going, and knew he could go one of two ways; make Arthur suffer through asking all the questions, or get right to the point. Normally he would force Arthur to humble himself enough to ask what he really wanted to know, but today he opted to give Arthur a free pass.

"Yes, and it is in Cendrid's kingdom," Merlin waited a minute to make sure that this was really what Arthur wanted to hear. When he saw Arthur glance at him, he offhandedly added, "And from what I hear of Princess Morgana, she is strong willed, stubborn, and very quick to anger."

"Gre.." Arthur started, rolling his eyes.

"_And_ she works very hard to make sure the people of Valeska are taken care of. Remind you of anyone?" Merlin stared pointedly at Arthur. From what Merlin had heard, Arthur's and Morgana's personalities were too similar for things to go smoothly once she arrived in Camelot. But he was hoping that he could get Arthur to come around before the people of Camelot had to suffer. Arthur's next words quickly squashed that idea.

Arthur turned to glare at Merlin. "Oh, shut up Merlin. I am nothing like her."

"No, of course not. What was I thinking?" Merlin asked while looking straight ahead. He was well aware that Arthur was still staring at him.

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Gwen had finally finished her maid duties for the day and decided to swing by Gaius' and see how Merlin was doing. Her hand wavered before she knocked on the door, she didn't want Merlin to think that she liked him or something silly like that. She didn't like him…of course she didn't, he was just a friend…right? Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she rapped on the door before she could change her mind.

Regrettably for Gwen's embarrassment, Gaius answered the door. She really didn't want to explain to Gaius that she was here to see Merlin. In her mind, Gaius read to much into her friendship with Merlin. Apparently she stood there too long because Gaius had decided to breach her thoughts.

"Here for Merlin, Gwen?" Gaius asked, trying not to chuckle at the young maid's obvious discomfort.

Gwen couldn't help the blush that sprung up on her cheeks, "Well yes, I was just going home and I…" Gwen couldn't say she was just stopping by on her way out of the castle. Merlin and Gaius' was far from being on the way. "Is Merlin here?"

"No, he is still with Arthur. Although, he should be back soon, would you like to come in and wait?"

"Um, no thank you. I'll just see him later. Goodnight Gaius."

"And a good night to you as well." Shaking his head as he finally released his chuckle, Gaius closed the door.

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Merlin was rounding the corner very rapidly, when he suddenly collided into something, or someone to be precise. "Sorry, I didn't see you."

"Merlin?"

"Gwen, is that you? I am so sorry. Are you okay?" Merlin and Gwen spent the next few moments trying to untangle themselves from one another. After many more mumbled apologies, they were both back on their feet and were dedicatedly not looking at each other.

"Where were you off to in such a hurry?" Gwen asked because Merlin was still breathing heavily.

Merlin waved a hand in the air, "Oh, just out running. You know," Merlin took a deep breath, "for fun."

"So, what did you say to Arthur?" Gwen asked, smiling at Merlin's excuse.

Merlin looked sheepish, "Is it that obvious?"

"Well, normal people don't go running around in armor," Gwen touched a piece of the mismatched armor that Merlin still wore from mace practice.

Merlin didn't think his heart could beat any faster until Gwen touched him. Granted, she wasn't actually touching him, but it was close enough in his mind.

"I should be getting home," Gwen commented, breaking Merlin out of his reverie.

"Yes, of course. I'll see you later." Merlin waited till Gwen was around the corner before he started to smile. Rooted to the spot he didn't notice Arthur come up behind him, until Arthur smacked him across the back of the head.

Merlin spun around, rubbing the back of his head, "Would you please stop doing that?"

Arthur appeared to be concentrating for a brief time and then he shook his head slightly, "No, probably not."

Arthur turned and began walking back to his quarters. He was a few steps away when he called over his shoulder, "Now stop daydreaming. I'm hungry, not to mention my armor needs polished again, and my room needs tidying,"

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Next chapter: Morgana makes the trip to Camelot…

Sorry for those hoping to see more Morgana in this chapter. I wanted to focus on including Gwen, she is the hardest one for me to write.

Honest opinions are always welcome.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry about the delay in posting a new chapter. As some people already know, I just moved back into the dorms and I am trying to get settled in. I hope that you all enjoy the new chapter. :D

Disclaimer: Still don't own it.

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Camelot was a hive of activity the following week. Servants ran around, preparing rooms, cleaning corners that would never be seen, and washing all of the formal clothes in the castle. King Cendrid was on his way from Valeska to sign the treaty with Camelot to end the war. With him was a very reluctant traveler, Princess Morgana.

Their trip to Camelot had been very slow, with twenty knights and a giant carriage, there was only so many routes they could take. Morgana would have preferred to ride the horses, but her father insisted that they take the carriage because he wanted Arthur to think she was delicate and gentle. She didn't feel delicate and gentle; she felt lazy, weak, and imprisoned. For four days she had sat in that carriage, only getting out for small periods of time. How she longed to get out and ride, or even just walk alongside the carriage for a while.

"Stop being so melancholy Morgana. We aren't going to your funeral." Cendrid had grown tired of seeing Morgana stare out the window.

Morgana didn't verbally respond, she just glanced at her father and then continued to stare out the window. She wasn't melancholy, she was happy that Valeska would be free of the war. She was just restless and she wouldn't admit it to herself, but a bit worried. Like other Valeskan's, she had heard of Arthur's valor in battle, but that was all. For all she knew, he was just an idiot who knew how to wield a sword. Morgana had seen enough conceited princes to last a lifetime; she didn't want to be forced to live with one as well.

"When will we arrive in Camelot?" Morgana had grown so bored that she was willing to be in Camelot. They were supposed to be in Camelot two days ago, but since the journey was so slow, it was taking longer than expected.

"Tomorrow morning, I imagine. I sent a messenger to Uther, telling him of our delay."

Morgana turned back to watch the scenery creep by.

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"Would you hurry up?" Arthur had been snapping at Merlin all morning long. First he had to go and wake up Merlin himself. What kind of prince has to wake up his own servant? Then, Merlin brought him cold food. And now he was taking forever to dress him. At least that was Arthur's reality.

In actuality, Arthur had woken up two hours before he normally did, meaning Merlin wasn't late. Merlin had brought him hot food, but Arthur had stared at it for long enough that it became cold. And Merlin was dressing Arthur as quickly as he could, but the young prince kept pacing, making the task extremely difficult.

"Sire, if you would just stop," Merlin couldn't even finish his sentence before Arthur had once again ripped his red jacket out of Merlin's hands. Sighing, Merlin tried to get Arthur's attention, "Sire………….sire……….Arthur!"

At this Arthur stopped mid-stride, "What!" He then noticed his jacket hanging off of one arm. Arthur took one look at Merlin's smiling face, "Shut up and come fix this."

Merlin went over to Arthur and quickly put the rest of his jacket on, in case he decided to start pacing again. The entire time he was doing it, Merlin was fighting the urge to needle Arthur. Finally, the urge overcame his common sense, "So…just a little nervous to be meeting Morgana?"

Glaring at Merlin, Arthur shook his head and pointed at himself, "First off, I don't get nervous. Secondly, I am only worried that Cendrid may back out of this treaty."

"Oh, you are nervous that Cendrid may back out of the treaty?"

"Yes, exactly." Arthur was glad that for once, Merlin seemed to catch onto the right idea quickly.

Merlin waited till Arthur relaxed again, before speaking, "The same treaty that says you have to marry Morgana?"

"Well, yes," Arthur said slowly. "But trust me, if I could have the treaty without Morgana, I would."

"So, you don't care if she likes you?"

Arthur scoffed, "No, of course not."

"Then why have you changed your jacket four times?"

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They had finally arrived in Camelot and Morgana couldn't believe the crowds of people around the castle. In Valeska, there was an inner court around the castle, where only people of importance could go freely.

The treaty was scheduled to be signed later that very evening, after Morgana and Cendrid had a chance to rest up after their long journey. They were greeted at the castle's entrance by a few servants, who were supposed to help them prepare. One of them walked briskly up to Morgana, "Princess Morgana," she said with a small curtsy, "my name is Guinevere and I will be your handmaiden while you are in Camelot. If you follow me, I will show you to your quarters so you can freshen up."

Cendrid gave Morgana a look that clearly told her to behave and not to cause issues before the treaty was signed. Livid, Morgana narrowed her eyes and turned to follow the servant girl. Did he honestly think her to be a child? She knew what was expected of her and she knew what was on the line. Morgana was quietly seething as she walked behind Gwen, through the halls of Camelot.

"Here we are m'lady," Gwen said as she opened the door for Morgana and then walked in.

"Thank you, Guinevere," Morgana replied, snapping out of her thoughts.

"Oh, most people just call me Gwen," Gwen smiled at Morgana.

"Well, then thank you, Gwen," Morgana may not have been happy with her situation, but that was no reason to take it out on the other girl. She looked around her room, it wasn't too bad, but she didn't feel comfortable in it. Though, she thought with an edge of bitterness, she would be here long enough to make it her own.

"Shall we start getting you ready for tonight?" Gwen asked.

While Morgana really just wanted to be alone, she knew that the handmaidens help would make the process much quicker and easier. Then another thought popped into her head, this maid had probably worked in the castle for quite a while if she was given the position of her maid. This meant that she would know more about the castle's occupants. "Yes."

After Morgana had taken a soothing bath, they set out all of Morgana's dresses to see which one was appropriate for the evening. The two of them finally settled on a royal blue dress with sheer sleeves and Morgana decided it was time to ask a few questions.

"How long have you worked in the Castle?"

"Oh, about three years now. It seems like forever though." Gwen smiled politely.

"Really? What has it been like?" Morgana didn't want to come right out and ask about Uther and Arthur. She looked in the mirror to make sure that the dress was the right pick.

Gwen cocked her head slightly and then nodded, "Pretty good. It's a good job, and all the servants are treated well." She stopped and thought for a moment, "Well, minus Merlin, Uther doesn't like him very much."

"Merlin? Who is he?" she asked as she sat down in front of the vanity so Gwen could fix her hair.

"He's Arthur's servant."

"Uther doesn't like his son's servant?" she wasn't intending on asking that, it just slipped out before she could stop it.

"The thing is, Merlin is," Gwen paused and smiled, "different. Not what most people would expect Arthur's servant to be like, and I think that bothers Uther. But then, most things bother him." Gwen looked up quickly from Morgana's hair, "I shouldn't have said that. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay Gwen, you were just saying what is on your mind. You don't have to apologize for it." She wanted Gwen to feel comfortable saying things around her and in time even become friends. "So, why do people think that Merlin isn't a good servant for Arthur?"

"You would think that Arthur would pick a servant who he could practice his sword and mace work with and Merlin….well Merlin isn't that person. Well, they practice, it just doesn't do either of them any good. Also, Merlin kind of says what ever is on his mind. I believe that Uther thinks Arthur should have a servant who minds him better."

Morgana took this as a good sign, if Arthur could have a servant who spoke freely around him, then perhaps he wouldn't be as pompous as she assumed.

"Okay, I think you are all ready."

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_Next Chapter: _Morgana and Arthur finally meet.

I hope you all enjoyed it. While both Morgana and Arthur are nervous about meeting each other, I stand by my original statement, they will not automatically fall for each other. I enjoy their arguments and fully intend on bringing you all some. I will work on getting another one up as soon as possible.

Honest opinions are always welcome.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I am so sorry it took this long to update. As some of you know, I went on a school sponsored back packing trip; it was a lot of fun and very tiring. When I got back to school, I had to participate in dinners with the President of the university, catch up on sleep, and keep caught up in class. It did not help that this chapter took a while to start. I couldn't figure out how I wanted it to go. My updates will be much quicker in the future -unless I get seriously swamped-. I loved all the reviews that were waiting for me, it made me so happy to see that people are enjoying the story and I hope you will continue to do so. Now, on with the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own the cast or plot of Merlin, even though I wish I did.

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Arthur stood silently next to his father in Camelot's throne room. The two of them, and the entire royal court, were anxiously awaiting King Cendrid's arrival to the room, for nearly half an hour. Unable to help himself any longer, Arthur began to pick at the imaginary dirt on his red jacket. "Couldn't we just send a servant to fetch him?"

Uther had been waiting for Arthur to grow impatient and he wasn't disappointed. He would never express it, but he was just as annoyed as his son was. He also knew that Cendrid was trying to show who was in charge by not showing up on time. "You don't send servants to _fetch_ kings."

It was about this time that an unknown servant walked into the room and announced, "King Cendrid of Valeska."

In strode King Cendrid, his cloak billowing behind him. "Uther! Good to see you again," Cendrid said while striding up to Uther.

"And you, Cendrid." The two kings grasped each others arms in greeting, while the rest of the court looked on.

Bothered by the fact that the two were greeting each other like old friends, and not like the enemies they had been for so long, Arthur turned to look at Merlin. Raising his eyebrows and smiling slightly at the sight, Arthur returned to face Cendrid when he heard, "And Arthur, you have turned into a fine prince, and an even better knight if rumors are to be believed."

Arthur only nodded coolly in acknowledgement. What was he supposed to say? He had sent many of his knights to their death at the hands of the Valeskan's. By now, he just wanted the treaty signed.

"Cendrid," Uther started when he realized that Arthur wasn't going to respond, "where is your daughter, Morgana?"

"She shall be joining us after the treaty is signed and the festivities begin." Cendrid did not want Morgana saying something that may jeopardize the treaty. He knew she wanted what was best, but also knew that she had a quick temper.

"Then let's get on with it," Uther commented while he walked towards the table.

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A few minutes later the truce was signed and the music began, signaling the beginning of the feast. People broke off into small groups to happily talk about the benefits of ending the war and opening up trade with Valeska. In the midst of this, Arthur motioned for Merlin to come over.

"Nice hat," Arthur commented while smirking.

Merlin knew that Arthur had made him wear the ridiculous hat because of his earlier comment about changing jackets. So, he shook his head slightly at Arthur's jab, "Nice jacket."

"You know, I _am_ a prince," Arthur emphasized, "I can have you executed anytime I want."

Merlin smiled, "But then who would tell you that you're acting like a prat?"

Arthur threw his arms up in the air, "Nobody, that's the point! You are quite possibly the worst servant in the history of servants! You are lucky that you are good at," Arthur stopped for a second, and then shook his head, "never mind."

During their bickering, they missed Morgana being announced at the door and it wasn't until Arthur heard his father hiss his name that he turned to see her walking through the room towards her father.

"God, have mercy."

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Morgana had to wait until one of her father's knights came to retrieve her. She knew why her father was making her wait, and it made her loathe the decision even more. She wouldn't even get to see him before the treaty was signed, the treaty that planned out her future. Thankfully, it didn't take a long period of time before the treaty was signed, and she was allowed to go into the throne room. The walk there seemed to go far too quickly and it wasn't long before she was standing outside of the room. She wished that Guinevere, at least, were with her, but she had already gone inside. Taking one last deep breath, she nodded to the guards on either side of the door to open it and announce her.

"Princess Morgana of Valeska, daughter of King Cendrid!"

She noted the applauding crowd and immediately sought out the face of her father and began walking towards him; projecting a confidence she didn't fully feel. All around her she could her the whispers and rumors about why she was in Camelot. Some admiring gazes, some jealous, and some even spiteful.

"Morgana, you look lovely this evening," Cendrid proclaimed as he embraced her. He pivoted so that she was facing Uther, "Uther, my daughter, Morgana."

Uther bowed his head slightly, "Princess Morgana, it is an honor. And it is truly wonderful that you will be staying here in Camelot."

Morgana could feel her father's hand clasp onto her arm tighter, "The honor is mine King Uther," she said while lowering her head, "I have long desired to look upon Camelot and see what all of my people were dying for."

Both kings lost the small smiles that were on their faces. Neither knew what Morgana was playing at, but they did know that they didn't want the conversation to be forced towards the war.

"Why don't you meet my son, Prince Arthur." Uther motioned Arthur over.

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Arthur had felt his jaw go slack, she was absolutely beautiful. He knew that he didn't want to marry her, but certainly they could at least get along… Arthur was shaken out of his thoughts by Merlin, who was literally shaking his arm.

"Arthur," he said in a loud whisper, "Your father wants you to go over there."

He felt his feet moving on their own accord towards the small group that had gathered. When he arrived he felt his normal confidence return and an arrogant smile was plastered onto his face.

"Princess Morgana, I would like to introduce you to my son, Arthur," Uther gestured between the two of them. "Cendrid, why don't we leave them to talk."

The two kings walked away, talking of future decisions, and leaving Morgana and Arthur alone.

"Princess Morgana," Arthur said while slightly bowing, "I have heard a lot about you." This was a complete lie, what he had heard, had only come from Merlin and it was mediocre information at best. But, it was the first thing out of his mouth.

"And I you. My father says that you are a great knight."

Arthur let out another arrogant smile, "One of the best."

He didn't believe that to be entirely honest. Arthur knew that he had to be a great knight in order to gain his people's respect, for him to be a great king. However, despite the majority of Camelot's opinions on matter, he had yet to gain his father's approval. Until that happened, Arthur would never stop trying to be better and would never consider himself the best.

Morgana felt her eyes narrow, she had promised herself that she would at least try to get along with him, but he was just as conceited as every other prince she had met. "I suppose that everybody has some type of ability. Some people are intelligent, others are hard working, and you….you can kill things. I commend you, that is quite a talent to have," she finished with a sarcastic smile.

Arthur's quick anger once again made its appearance, "Excuse me?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Morgana said while letting out a fake laugh, "that may have been hard for you to follow along, I will make easier. You are nothing but a spoiled prince who thinks he can go around…"

"Me? Spoiled? Why don't you go take a look in the mirror _princess_," Arthur said, cutting Morgana off.

By this point, they were starting to draw a lot of attention from bystanders. Merlin noticed this before they did and stepped towards Arthur to try and calm him down.

"Arthur," Merlin tried to get his attention.

"Well, why don't you go off with daddy's men and bully some poor peasants? I am sure that is has been a whole two hours since you last partook, you must be growing bored."

"…Arthur, your father…" he tried again, as he saw Uther and Cendrid making their way over. They had yet to see the argument and Merlin was hoping to keep it that way.

Unfortunately, Arthur went on ignoring Merlin, something he was very good at. "And what would you know about peasants? From what I have heard, your kingdom doesn't let them anywhere near the castle. So, _princess_, keep going."

"Arthur!" Merlin had grown impatient and was running out of time.

"Merlin, would you shut up!?" Arthur had heard Merlin each time, he just hoped that if he ignored him, he would go away like any other pest would.

Merlin shook his head quickly in response, "No, but you two should stop arguing. People are starting to look and your fathers are on their way."

Morgana and Arthur glared at each other for a moment more before smiling at the last second.

"We are glad to see the two of you getting along so well," Cendrid said.

Letting out a huge sigh, Merlin knew his job just got a lot harder.

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_Next Chapter_: Morgana runs into Merlin and more.

And as a teaser: Some time in the future, there will be a threat to Camelot and its inhabitants. ;)

Honest opinions are always welcome.


	6. Chapter 6

First off, thank you all again for the wonderful reviews! I am so glad to see that "Truce" is being enjoyed. School is now going full swing, but I am still finding time to write. J So, there will be more to come, and hopefully soon.

Disclaimer: I still don't own the plot or the cast of Merlin.

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It had been two days since King Uther signed the treaty with Valeska and everything seemed to be working out perfectly. King Cendrid had left for Valeska the previous day with the majority of his guard. Despite Uther's assurances that the knights of Camelot would do all they could to protect Morgana, Cendrid had insisted on leaving a few of his own.

Usually, when a new alliance was formed, there would be many days of celebrations. However, both Kings wanted to start the task of rebuilding, as soon as possible. When it came to Morgana and Arthur, Uther knew that they were just putting on a show, but as long as it continued, he didn't want to bother with it. Either they would come around and grow to like each other, or they would simply continue to do their duties. And Arthur was trying to do exactly that.

"Let the royal blacksmith that my horse threw a shoe yesterday and needs a new one by the end of the day," Arthur said offhandedly to Merlin, before taking a bite of bread. He had dedicatedly put all of his effort towards training his knights, ordering Merlin around, and avoiding Morgana and Uther. In less than five minutes with Morgana, Arthur had decided that he and Morgana were not meant to get along. Therefore, the best solution was to avoid her all together, and so far it was working perfectly.

"Anything else?" Merlin asked as he straightened up Arthur's room.

Arthur swallowed the water in his mouth, "Yes, inform my father that I will not be joining him and Morgana for lunch this afternoon. I am going to be busy with a knighthood test."

Merlin stopped, while leaning over to pick up Arthur's brown jacket and stared at Arthur, "You can't be serious; you haven't eaten with them once. Uther is starting to get suspicious, not to mention, annoyed." Merlin straightened up and looked pointedly at Arthur, "And you aren't the one who has to face him."

"I can't help that I am busy. And stop complaining, it can't possibly be that bad," Arthur replied, rolling his eyes.

Merlin scoffed, "Have you ever been put in the stocks? Let me tell you, they aren't fun! And with the mood your father has been in, it won't be long before he tosses me in them again."

Arthur couldn't help the small chuckle that came out when he thought of Merlin in the stocks. "My father wouldn't throw you in the stocks again," he assured, thinking back to the last conversation they had on the matter. "And it is just this one last time. I will make an appearance at supper."

"Please, make sure that happens. I don't fancy being on Uther's bad side for the rest of my life," Merlin commented. As he walked away, he added underneath his breath, "not that he has a _good_ side."

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"Merlin!" Gwen shouted as she hurried to catch up. She cringed as her shout echoed down the long hallway. While they had said a few words in passing, Merlin and Gwen had not had the opportunity to really talk since before Morgana arrived in Camelot.

Merlin halted and waited for Gwen to reach him. "Hey Gwen," he said, smiling at her.

Gwen returned the smile, "Where were you off to in such a hurry?" When Merlin didn't answer right away, Gwen got nervous, "I mean, not that you have to answer."

Holding back a laugh at her rambled speech, Merlin replied, "Of course I don't mind answering. I just finished following one of Uther's orders."

Gwen knew that Uther had a handful of his own servants, and he despised Merlin, so why would he use Merlin. "What order could Uther possibly give to you?"

"To get as far away from him as possible," Merlin's grin widened.

"I take it Arthur still isn't showing up to meals?"

Merlin's smile faltered and he turned his head to the side, "How…" he trailed off.

"I am Morgana's hand-maiden, remember?"

"Ah, that would make sense." Merlin hadn't really thought about who Morgana's maid was, but he was glad that it was Gwen. In the back of his mind, the thought occurred to him, that perhaps now they would see each other more often.

The conversation came to a lull, as the two of them awkwardly looked around. In the midst of their silence, the tower bells began to clang. Gwen's head jerked up suddenly, she was supposed to be waiting in Morgana's room for her, when she was done with lunch, "I'm sorry, I have to go. We'll talk later?"

Stunned by the sudden change, all Merlin could do, before Gwen ran off, was nod.

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Knowing that Arthur would be done with his knights soon, Merlin began to make his way towards Arthur's room. He was walking down one of the brightly lit hallways when a door to the left of him opened up.

"Princess Morgana," he said, thrown off by her sudden appearance.

"Yes," she replied, "and you are Merlin, right?"

Merlin looked at her quizzically, "How did you know that?"

"I remember you from the feast the other night," Morgana remembered that night all too well. "Also, Gwen has mentioned you a few times."

Unable to stop them, Merlin's cheeks turned an embarrassing shade of red. Morgana hid a smile when she saw the reaction. By the way Gwen talked about Merlin, the other girl was quite taken with him. She was glad to see that the feelings were reciprocated.

"I hope that you are…"

"Merlin!"

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Arthur had spent a large part of his day testing candidates for knighthood. Out of ten, only three managed to last the full minute. And out of those three, he only believed one to be especially gifted. Another part of his day was spent dealing with the knights that King Cendrid had left to guard Morgana. He was trying to incorporate them into Camelot's guard rotation, but they weren't being very cooperative. Finally, frustrated with the task he had set himself with, Arthur returned to his chambers to prepare for dinner. And as per usual, Merlin was no where to be found.

"I practically give him the day off," Arthur looked around incredulously, "and he can't even be here when I want him to be."

Deciding that, instead of dressing himself for dinner, he would take the time to go look for Merlin. If in the process of doing so, he was late for dinner, then that was just an unfortunate outcome.

Turning left out of his chambers, Arthur began the hunt for his wayward servant. Having gone down numerous hallways, Arthur was beginning to give up the search, until he saw Merlin standing next to Morgana. His annoyance levels shot up. Merlin was supposed to be getting him ready, not talking to _her_.

"Merlin!" He called out, secretly please when Merlin jumped. Arthur quickly stalked over to them and folded his arms across his chest.

"Arthur, I am on my way to your chambers," Merlin quickly said.

"Is that so?," Arthur raised his eyebrows, "Because to _me_ it looks like you are just standing here."

"He stopped because of me," Morgana had already grown tired of the way Arthur was treating Merlin, so she decided to step in.

Turning his head towards Morgana, Arthur was once again struck by how beautiful she was. He thought it too bad that they were complete opposites. "No offense, _Princess_, but I was speaking to my servant."

At that he returned his gaze back to Merlin, "Meet me in my room in five minutes. You do remember that you actually have a job to do, right?" Arthur looked at Merlin a second longer and then started to leave. "I can't believe my father, picking you of all people."

Merlin scoffed and yelled at Arthur's retreating back, "Hey! You rehired me!"

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_Next Chapter_: Arthur's dinner with Morgana and Uther…and more.

I do plan on their being some action…I am just letting the story run its course.

Honest opinions are more than welcome!


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry about the delay in posts, unfortunately, college has to come first. With luck I will have the next chapter posted by the end of this weekend. It all depends on how quickly inspiration strikes.**

**And thank you are for the wonderful reviews! It still makes me very happy to see people enjoying this.**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own the cast and plot line of Merlin**

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**It was only a little while later that Arthur found himself walking towards the dining hall. He had put this off as long as possible, mostly by taking his meals in his room, and other times by skipping them altogether. He would never say it aloud, but he was thankful that Merlin would be there. Crown Prince, loved by the people of Camelot, one of the best knights they had ever seen…and yet around his father, he always felt like a complete screw-up. Merlin had a tendency to grate on his every nerve, but he also had proven himself to be very loyal…servant?**

"**Arthur," Merlin began, breaking Arthur out of his reverie.**

"**Not now Merlin," Arthur growled out.**

"**But, Arthur…"**

"**I said not now!" They had just arrived at the entrance of the dining hall and Arthur looked at Merlin. "I don't want you saying anything in there, do I make myself clear?"**

"**Crystal, but…"**

"**But, what!?!" Arthur exclaimed, his eyes going wide.**

**Straight faced, Merlin replied, "Good luck."**

**Merlin swore he could see one of Arthur's eyes twitching and managed to withhold a smile till Arthur turned back to the door. **

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**Arthur was late, not that it was surprising. Uther didn't know whether to blame Arthur's horrid servant, or blame Arthur himself. He knew that Arthur had been making excuses as to why he could not attend meals, and he had let him get away with it for far to long; if he passed on this supper as well, then there would be consequences.**

**Morgana sat still in her chair, minus the small tapping of her right foot. She was hoping that Arthur would skip this meal as well. Yes, dining alone with Uther, was awkward at best, but it had to beat dining with Uther **_**and**_** Arthur. **

"**Princess Morgana," Uther said, breaking the lengthened silence, "have you enjoyed your time in Camelot?"**

**Morgana hated having 'Princess' always attached to her name. If she could have it her way she would be just, Morgana. "I have to admit, my lord," she kept her voice painfully polite, "that I haven't seen much of Camelot. The guard my father left for me has been kept busy and I was advised that I shouldn't 'wander' around alone."**

"**I will inform Arthur that you need an escort as soon as possible." Uther had recognized her tone for what it was. And he also could tell that she thought the idea of a guard was ridiculous. But, he knew the dangers that lurked out in Camelot, and knew that he had many enemies who would love to see the alliance between Camelot and Valeska crumble.**

**Morgana was saved a reply, Arthur just pushed open the tall doors and walked in, Merlin coming in after him. **

"**Father, Princess Morgana," he said in greeting, looking at each of them in turn.**

"**Prince Arthur," Morgana replied coolly. She didn't know what it was about him that bothered her so much. Before she came to Camelot, she had heard all about what a great man Arthur Pendragon was. But so far, he just appeared to be an arrogant bully. There was no redeeming quality about him.**

"**Arthur, I'm glad see you finally remembered where the dining hall is," Uther remarked. **

**Arthur brought his goblet to his lips and took a long drink, "I've been busy."**

"**So I've heard," Uther dragged out, causing Arthur to look at him. "Which reminds me," Uther said, gesturing to a silent Morgana, "you need to assign some guards to Morgana."**

"**Father, my knights are already too busy, I don't have any to spare."**

**Uther popped a grape into his mouth, "I wasn't requesting. You will assign Morgana a guard and you will do it by tomorrow."**

**Realizing a losing fight when he saw one, Arthur relented, "Yes, father."**

"**Have you had any luck in training the Valeskan knights?"**

"**None, if I didn't know any better, I would say they are as much of a knight as Merlin is."**

"**Excuse me," Morgana interjected, glaring at Arthur, "there is absolutely nothing wrong with the way our knights are trained."**

**Arthur scoffed, "If by nothing wrong, you mean complete disaster. They're ridiculous."**

"**In that case, the 'great knights of Camelot' must really be pathetic…seeing as you never conquered Valeska."**

"**I…" Arthur began.**

"**Enough!" Uther had quickly grown tired of the bickering and was now standing with his fists on the table. "I care not, whether you two like each other, but I will not have either of you jeopardizing the peace between the kingdoms! Do I make myself clear?" **

**With a quick nod of his head, Arthur acknowledged his father. However, Morgana continued to maintain eye contact with Uther. She didn't constantly obey her own father, what made Uther think he actually had control over her? **

"**Do not test me Morgana," Uther commanded. Upon receiving no response, Uther decided to try a different tactic, "Morgana, I can make sure that you never leave the castle."**

**Morgana remembered back to the carriage ride with her father. While the castle in Camelot was huge, to never leave it would drive her insane. Perhaps there would be later battles that she would win, and with that she bowed her head.**

"**Good, now let's enjoy the rest of our meal."**

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**The disastrous first meal together had finally ended and Arthur was walking Morgana back to her rooms. Merlin had gone ahead to prepare Arthur's room for the night, so it was just the two of them. The majority of the walk had been passed in silence, up until they reached her door.**

"**Morgana," he said right before she walked into her room, "when my father said don't test him, he really meant it."**

"**I'm not afraid of him," she replied confidently, "unlike some it seems. Have you always done what daddy has told you to do, or is this a new habit?"**

**Arthur clenched his teeth and glared at Morgana, "Fine, don't take my advice! Let me know what it is like when you end up in chains."**

"**Uther wouldn't dare…" she didn't get to finish.**

"_**Princess**_**, don't presume that you know how far my father is willing to go."**

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**I had a bit of difficulty writing this chapter. Hopefully the next one comes easier….and quicker. :D**

**Next Chapter: Morgana goes out into Camelot, and some drama occurs. **

**Honest opinions are always welcome!**


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you all for your reviews! I love logging on and seeing them. I am not a huge fan of the r/r authors, the ones who constantly ask, but I am noticing that quite a few people seem to be enjoying the story, so I would like your opinions. Something that you really enjoyed, something that you think didn't fit, etc. It is extremely helpful to get that sort of information.

Disclaimer: I still do not own the plot or characters of Merlin.

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Sunlight was just beginning to breach the castle hallways as Gwen hurried towards Morgana's bedchambers. She felt as if she was always hurrying somewhere; her father once said that she was 'busier than a hummingbird'. As she approached Morgana's door, she saw Merlin with his hand raised, ready to knock. However, instead of knocking, he just stood there, his hand suspended in the air.

"Merlin, what are you doing?" Gwen inquired.

"Gwen!" Merlin nearly shouted in relief. "Good morning."

"Um…good morning to you as well," she hesitantly replied. It seemed as if Merlin forgot the reason he was about to knock, so she decided to help him along. "Merlin, why are you here?"

"Oh right, I was given a message, that I'm supposed to give to you, to give to Morgana, but I hadn't seen you this morning, so I was just going to tell her myself," he expelled in one breath. "Then, I realized that she might be asleep, so I didn't want to wake her."

Gwen couldn't help the small laugh that escaped, usually it was her who had issues forming thoughts. She also finally took note of Merlin's appearance. His hair was in complete disarray, his clothes had more wrinkles than they usually did, and his eyes were bloodshot. "Are you okay?"

"Me?" Merlin asked, pointing at himself, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

Figuring that it was probably Arthur related, or some other reason Merlin didn't want to talk about, Gwen decided to drop it. "Never mind, you said you had a message?"

"Yeah, Arthur told me, to tell you, to tell Morgana, 'Be at the practice field no later than eight o'clock'," Merlin shook his head and hoped that Gwen understood that.

Gwen was quite for a second while she thought about what Merlin had just said. When she finally understood it, she thought about Morgana's reaction, "She is not going to like being told what to do, especially by Arthur."

"I'll trade you." Merlin quickly replied. He would much rather deal with a temperamental Morgana.

"Trade me?"

"Arthur for Morgana. I'll even throw in a manual."

Gwen couldn't help the cringe that occurred, she couldn't imagine being Arthur's servant. Merlin stood back and watched as she lightly knocked on Morgana's door. "No thanks, Merlin. But, if it makes you feel better, you have lasted longer than any of his other servants," she smiled slightly and heard Morgana call her in, "I had better tend to Morgana now."

Merlin sighed, "Stupid destiny."

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"You did remember to tell her to be here by eight, right?" Arthur asked Merlin as he stood impatiently waiting for Morgana. He shifted around slightly and noticed that Merlin did a horrible job at putting his armor on that morning.

"Yes, for the third time, I remembered," Merlin shortly replied.

"Well, she should be here then, right?" Arthur inquired.

"Uh huh," Merlin agreed.

"I swear, she is doing this just to bother me," he seethed.

"Uh huh."

"I have more important things to do today, other than waiting around for her."

"Uh huh."

Arthur finally looked at Merlin, he knew that Merlin would never agree with him this much. He raised his eyebrows as he saw Merlin trying to suppress a yawn. "You're a complete idiot."

"Uh huh………ow!" Merlin rubbed his arm where Arthur had just punched him.

"Am I boring you?"

Still rubbing his arm, Merlin replied, "Just a little."

He managed to dodge Arthur's first attempt at hitting him again, but didn't think he would be as lucky the second time around.

"Isn't it a bit early to be beating up servants?"

Arthur stopped mid-swing to see Morgana and Gwen making their way onto the field. "Morgana, you're late."

"I didn't realize that you had the power to give me orders," she scathingly replied. Arthur's assumptions were correct, she did delay the time just on the principle of the it.

Knowing he had no actual argument, Arthur went on to the matter at hand, "If you want some guards, you should try to be a bit more accommodating."

"And if I remember correctly, you don't really have a choice on whether or not I receive a guard. I suppose it works in my favor that you are so good at following orders. So go on, let's get this over with." Morgana waved her hand in Arthur's direction. She could tell that she struck a nerve when she saw Arthur's fists clench. "What? Did you forget how to talk?"

Arthur was struggling to control his temper. If Morgana were anyone else, he would have had them hauled off a long time ago. "For once I agree with you, let's get this over with, then I won't have to see you." He walked over to a group of knights who were lingering around the lower guard house. "Knight Torin, Evrain, and Ryon, you are going to be Princess Morgana's guard escort for the next week. You will not be on regular guard duty and you are to accompany her anytime she leaves the castle. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sire," was the chorused response from two of the men, Torin and Lucan.

"Is there a problem Ryon?" Arthur asked.

"Just a small one sire," he replied, "you had me set to lead a small party to outlying villages."

"Right. Knight Lancelot," Arthur said, gesturing to another knight who was standing there, "you will take Ryon's spot in Princess Morgana's guard."

"Yes, sire." Lancelot was surprised that Arthur had picked him to finish the guard. A few months ago, Merlin and Gwen had helped him become a knight. But since then, he had stayed in the background, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

With the guard situation settled, Arthur turned back to Morgana. "There. Happy?"

"Once I am away from you I will be," Morgana gave him a fake smile and went to inform her new guards that she was planning on an afternoon trip to the market.

Scowling, Arthur turned to Merlin, "Let's practice your sword work today."

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Morgana may have downplayed her excitement for leaving the castle, but inside she was ecstatic over the chance to go and explore Camelot. Since Valeska kept commoners away from the castle, Morgana didn't have much experience in interacting with them, but she was intrigued by the market she had seen as she first entered the city.

"My lady, would you like the blue cloak or the green one?" Gwen asked while surveying the options.

"Green, please." Morgana looked around, and was convinced that they were ready to leave. "Gwen, could you go inform the knights that I am ready."

"Yes, my lady."

Morgana only had to wait a few minutes before Gwen came back with Torin, Evrain, and Lancelot in tow. "My lady," they all said with a slight bow of their heads.

Returning their bow with a smile, Morgana led the way out of the room and into the courtyard. She honestly had no idea where she was going, but figured that if she took a wrong turn, someone would point it out to her. A few more turns, and they were out of the castle and into the bustling market place. It was as amazing and as hectic as she imagined it. Traders were yelling out their exotic wares, bakers were waving fresh bread around, and the blacksmith was hammering out some horseshoes.

"My lady, that is my father, Tom, do you mind if I go say hello?" Gwen asked hesitantly.

"Not at all, in fact, why don't you take a break and meet with me in an hour by the baker," Morgana suggested.

"Really? That would be lovely. Thank you, my lady."

Morgana was glad to see that Gwen and her father had a good relationship. She knew that she had been keeping Gwen later in the evening than usual, so she thought it was only fair that they spend some time together.

She continued to walk around the market with her guard following behind her. Morgana had attempted to strike up conversation with them a few times, but apparently it was a rule that if you were a knight, you had to have poor conversation skills. They had just passed a fake jewelry stand when the ground began to violently shake.

It wasn't until merchant stalls began to topple that people began to scream and everyone started to flee. Lancelot made a lunge for Morgana, but was unable to reach her before they were taken in different directions by the moving crowds.

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"The damage was mostly in the lower district. Ferolin, gather a group of knights and search the fallen buildings for survivors. Alier, you take another group and check out the damage done to the market." Arthur had been busy issuing out orders after the earth quake struck half an hour ago. He had no idea what the extent of the damage was, but he knew that some people were taking advantage of the chaos to loot. He was looking at a map of the city when he heard someone address him.

"Yes," he said without looking up, upon receiving no answer, he glanced up to see the knights he assigned to Morgana, "Well, what is it?"

Silence. That was all Arthur received. Noticing that the other knights didn't want to step forward and speak, Lancelot decided to. "Sire, when the earth quake started, we were separated from Princess Morgana. We searched for her afterwards, but we don't know where she is."

"What do you mean, you don't know where she is?" Arthur asked, trying to keep the alarm out of his voice. His father was going to kill him. Also, he may not like her, but he wouldn't want any woman out there by herself right now.

"We looked Sire, but…"

Arthur cut him off, "Alier, new orders. The knights are to be looking for Princess Morgana. She was in the market when the quake started. I will take a group of knights and start on the southern end, your group will start on the northern end and we'll work our way in. Finding her is the main priority, is that understood?"

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_Next Chapter_: The search for Morgana. Was the quake natural? Or was there something else behind it?

Honest opinions are always welcome.


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you all for your amazing reviews! I would always love to have more people's opinions, so please let me know what you are thinking. The rest of me week is pretty full, but I am hoping to have another chapter posted by the end of the weekend.

Disclaimer: I still do not own the plot or cast of Merlin.

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Night had already fallen by the time Morgana was jolted back into consciousness. She couldn't remember how she ended up on the ground. Slowly sitting up, she began to take in her current surroundings. Morgana began to panic once she realized she didn't recognize anything. Perhaps the running crowd had forced her into the lower districts of Camelot, where she then hit her head. Deciding that she would try to find her way back to the castle, Morgana used a nearby crate to pull herself up.

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Arthur checked to make sure his armor was on properly before rushing out of the castle with a few knights and Merlin in tow. He had to find Morgana before something happened to her; or worse for him, before his father found out she was missing. As they made their way down to the southern end of the market district, people were scrambling to get out of their way and looters were quickly dropping their treasures. It was only a few minutes before they reached their destination and Arthur began giving orders.

"Let's fan out. If you find Princess Morgana, take her immediately back to the castle and send out messengers to the rest of us. Any questions?" Arthur asked, looking at his knights. "Good, let's find her quickly."

Merlin was about to head off with Arthur when he felt the hairs on the back his neck rise. He looked around quickly, but couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. He suddenly halted when he saw the road that led to the lower districts. He didn't know why, but he needed to go down there.

"Arthur!" Merlin called out to get the prince's attention.

"Merlin, I don't have time for…"

"What if Morgana was forced into the lower district? What if she isn't even in the market district anymore?" asked Merlin quickly.

Arthur stared at him for a moment before looking around, trying to spot any of his knights. It was just his luck, they were all out fulfilling his previous orders. "Come on then," Arthur replied, ignoring Merlin's gaze and walking past him, "let's check it out."

There was only one road from the market place to the lower district and for the two blocks that it continued, Merlin and Arthur walked in silence, taking in the destruction of the earthquake. It seemed like once the quake started, crowds tried to escape from the market, at the same times as people were trying to escape to it. The result could be seen in the bodies lying in the road, trampled in the panic. Merlin and Arthur made sure to check each body as they walked, hoping that they wouldn't find Morgana.

"Which way do we go?" Merlin asked Arthur once they reached the end of the two blocks.

Arthur had no idea. Which way was the crowd most likely to run? If Morgana was taken this way, which direction did she go? "We'll split up, you take the left, I'll take the right." Arthur drew his sword, he had heard reports that the lower district was being ransacked and he didn't want to be caught unaware. He then watched as Merlin did the same. Shaking his head as he saw Merlin hold it wrong, he stepped over to him, "It's like this," he said, fixing it to the best of his ability, "Just….try not to kill anyone."

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Morgana clenched her tattered cloak closer to her body and pulled the hood over her head. Not only was she cold, she was also extremely anxious. All around her she could hear windows breaking, people screaming, and the occasional sounds of rough laughter. What she could see wasn't much better; fire was taking over many of the poorly made buildings, hard looking men were ransacking homes, and bodies littered the roads. Not to mention she couldn't get rid of the feeling that she was being followed.

"Hello?" She whispered softly to the shadows, "is anyone there?"

When Morgana didn't hear a reply, she continued on in the direction that she believed the castle to be in. She was trying to ignore her anxiety when she heard light footfalls behind her. She spun around, but once again couldn't see anything. Her nerves getting the best of her, Morgana broke into a run, and was soon assaulted by the leers and suggestive calls of the men she passed. She was fine until she passed too close to one of the men, who quickly grabbed a hold of her left arm.

"Well, well, aren't you a pretty one," he growled out. Born in the lower districts, Cor was a thug by trade and had been busy capitalizing on the earth quake.

"Let go of me!" Morgana attempted to pull her arm out of his grasp.

"Now why would I go and do a thing like that?" Cor asked, giving her a wolfish grin, "We were just about to have some fun."

Morgana continued to struggle in vain, his hand went around her entire arm, she had no idea how to get him off of her. She had one last resort, "Do you have any idea who I am?

"No, sweetheart and I really don't care." With that he pulled her in closer, laughing when she tried to resist.

"Get off of me you pig!"

He pulled back his hand and slapped her across the face before turning to a group of men behind him, "I love it when they fight back."

"Really," Morgana asked with her vision spinning, and her hand tightening into a fist, "then you'll love this." Morgana quickly swung her arm up and punched him in the face. Whether it was from pain or just the shock of being hit by her, Cor loosened his grip enough for Morgana to pull her arm out. As she was stepping away from him to run, he lunged and tried to grab her again. Quickly sidestepping him, Morgana kicked him in the knee as he passed. She could hear the other men running after her as she took off.

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Arthur didn't have luck on his side, he couldn't find Morgana anywhere. She hadn't even been in Camelot for a month and she was in danger. He was checking another body when he heard someone yelling. Arthur slowly checked around the corner and nearly rushed around it when he saw Morgana being held by a man, with three others looking on. From his position, he couldn't clear hear what was going on, but one of the men looked particularly angry, was sporting a busted lip and had a limp in his walk. Knowing he was outnumbered, Arthur began to quietly advance on the group.

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Morgana couldn't outrun them any longer and screamed when she was grabbed from behind.

"You stupid little whore!" Cor limped up to her. "I'll show you how to treat your betters."

She couldn't hold back the sarcastic laugh that escaped. "You? My better? That is the funniest thing I have ever heard in my life. You are nothing but a pathetic lowlife." Morgana felt the sharp stinging sensation as he slapped her again. Cor was raising his hand again when one of the other men started to shout.

Cor spun around to see Arthur clubbing the other man over the head with the hilt of his sword. Knights, how Cor hated them. Without waiting to recognize the Crown Prince, Cor went and grabbed Morgana and motioned for the other two men to attack.

Arthur almost felt bad, he knew the men didn't stand a chance. After all, they were just street thugs. Much to his surprise, as he pulled his sword out from one of the men, the other decided to pull out a knife and tackle him to the ground.

"Arthur!" Morgana yelled out as he struggled with the man. She tried to rush forward as the knife got closer to Arthur's throat, but Cor had pulled his own knife out and pressed it up against her flesh.

"You aren't going anywhere. Once your precious knight is dead, we will finish what we started."

Arthur overheard Cor; he knew that he had to keep Morgana safe. Taking one of his hands off of the knife that was looming above him, Arthur punched the unknown man and rolled out from underneath him. Grabbing his sword off the ground as he got up, Arthur spun it once as his opponent stood up as well. Arthur waited until the man began to rush at him before he stepped into the charge, grabbed the hand with the knife, elbowed the man in the face and then buried his sword up into his ribcage.

As Arthur was pulling his sword out, Cor knew that he couldn't defeat him. Weighing his options, he decided his best bet was to run. Cor didn't wait for Arthur to regain his position before practically throwing Morgana at him. Morgana felt all the air rush out of her as she hit the hard steel of Arthur's armor.

"Are you okay?" She heard Arthur ask. "Morgana, are you okay?" He asked again when he didn't receive an answer.

She nodded quickly, and before she had time to think about it, Arthur was unceremoniously dropping her on the ground and pulling out his knife. He took careful aim before letting the knife fly out of his hand. "Ha! I knew that moving target practice would come in handy."

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_Next Chapter:_ Merlin's adventure in the Lower district, plus more.

Honest opinions are always more than welcome!


	10. Chapter 10

-hesitantly rounds the corner- You don't all hate me do you? I am _really _sorry about this taking so long. I had midterms in school, life got busy, and I started watching Robin Hood, which I have to say I thoroughly enjoy. However, it did mean that this got pushed back. I also started a new story, but I want to promise you all that I will not forget Truce. I will also work really hard at updating more frequently.

I also want to thank everyone for the wonderful reviews.

Disclaimer: I am still working on the ownership issue. Alas, I have had no further luck.

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_Merlin was about to head off with Arthur when he felt the hairs on the back his neck rise. He looked around quickly, but couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. He suddenly halted when he saw the road that led to the lower districts. He didn't know why, but he needed to go down there. _

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Merlin had been wandering the lower district for at least an hour. He adjusted his jacket as the wind picked up around him. He couldn't figure out why he had the strange feeling earlier, but he was hoping that it wasn't related to Morgana. Merlin knew that Morgana and Arthur didn't get along, but he didn't want to see Valeska and Camelot restart the war because of an earthquake. He was beginning to contemplate returning to the castle, but every time he thought about it, he decided to go around one more corner, on the off chance that Morgana would be there. However, the more he wandered around, the more he felt lost. Being Arthur's servant, Merlin spent the majority of his time in the castle, it wasn't often that he ventured to the lower district, and even less often did he do it at night.

He paused as the wind around him began to pick up even more, stirring the garbage that littered the street. Squinting his eyes, he looked around, wind like that didn't just appear out of nowhere. Merlin thought he had spotted someone, but when he looked closer, he couldn't see anything. "Hello!" He shouted, "Is anyone there?"

All he was met with was the sound of the wind swirling through the buildings. Finally, he decided to make his way back to the castle, intending to see if Morgana had been found. Merlin turned around, only to end up face to face with a hooded man. Merlin quickly back-stepped and fell backwards over some abandoned crates.

Since the man had a cloak and hood on, Merlin could not see his features. When Merlin had fallen, the man did nothing to help him, but instead remained still with his arms folded in his cloak. Standing up, Merlin eyed the man with suspicion; was it him who caused the wind? Or even the Earthquake?

"Who are you?" Merlin asked him. "What do you want?"

"My name is not important," the stranger replied in a harsh whisper, "but why I am here is."

"And why would that be?" Merlin didn't feel up to playing any word games, he just wanted to find out who this man was and whether or not he was a threat.

"I am here because I know your secret," the stranger whispered again.

Merlin instantly paled. No one in Camelot, besides Gaius and the Dragon, was supposed to know about his magic. Uther would have his head on a moment's notice. Merlin reminded himself to breathe and then swallowed hard, "What secret would that be?"

"That you are," the raspy voice paused and suddenly changed, "a complete idiot." Reaching up to pull the hood off, Arthur couldn't help but laugh at the look on Merlin's face.

Merlin looked away from Arthur and shook his head, glancing back when Arthur stopped laughing. "Are you done?"

Arthur smirked, "Not quite, you should have seen the look on your face."

"It's not funny," Merlin said, shaking his head again. He then realized that Arthur was here instead of looking for Morgana and began to fire off questions, "Did you find Morgana? Is she okay?"

"I have no idea where she is, I just thought I would get a laugh while she wandered around all alone," Arthur sarcastically replied. "Of course I found her, she's back in the castle resting."

"And then you decided to come and get me yourself?" Merlin asked.

"Trust me, it wasn't because I wanted to," Arthur started walking back to the castle with Merlin falling in-step beside him, "it was just that no one else was willing to come down here to find you."

Merlin turned his head to look at Arthur, "So, are you saying that _you_ wanted me back at the castle?"

Scoffing, Arthur didn't spare Merlin a glance, "No, I am saying that I am hungry and tired, and I don't have time to find a new servant tonight."

"And people say you're conceited," Merlin smiled as Arthur turned to glare at him. All of a sudden, Merlin got the same feeling that had made him go into the lower districts to begin with. His smile fell as he looked around and asked Arthur, "Do you feel like someone's watching us?"

"Quit being such a girl Merlin, we will be back to the castle soon," Arthur kept walking, not noticing that Merlin was still standing in the middle of the road. "I want something warm to eat, and maybe a hot bath. Oh and my…Merlin?" Arthur glanced around, but couldn't see him, "Merlin!"

Merlin had stopped when he saw a figure dart across a side road. Not even pausing to tell Arthur where he was going, Merlin took off after the shadow. He reached another intersection in the road and looked around wildly, he couldn't see anything. He was about to give up and return to Arthur when he spotted movement to his right. He slowed down as he neared the unmoving person. "Who are you? What are you doing out here?"

A confident voice rang out in the empty alley, "Nearly the same questions you asked Prince Arthur, I have to admit, I was expecting something more."

"Fine, why are you following me?" Merlin knew instinctively that this was the person who had been in the lower district before.

"Curiosity mostly, I have heard rumors about you, I wanted to see if they were true. But so far, I have been extremely disappointed. I come here expecting to find Merlin, the great wielder of the old magic, and instead I find a clumsy servant."

"Sorry to disappoint," Merlin couldn't help but fall back on his quick tongue. He didn't know who this man was or how he knew who he was, but he needed to find out. "And why do you care about who I am?"

The man walked closer to Merlin, "As surprising as this may sound, I don't really care about what you can do, so much as if you will be in my way."

Merlin took a step back, the man had purposefully revealed that he was planning something, so either he was confident he could win, or he liked to play games. "It was you who caused the earthquake, wasn't it?"

"Um, of course it was," the man replied with an unseen roll of his eyes. He was really hoping for more competition, this was just pathetic.

"I won't let you harm Camelot, I will stop you!"

"Stop me? I would like to see you try. I would tell you my plan and make it more interesting. But, I fear that you would run and tell Arthur, and we want everything to be a surprise, now don't we? You _could_ just kill me now and save Camelot from what ever fate I have planned….but you won't do that, will you?"

"Merlin!" Arthur's shout echoed down the alleyway, the pounding of his footsteps accompanying it.

The man chuckled sardonically, "If I were you, I would stop him before he reaches us. We wouldn't want him to get involved, it could end up awfully messy."

"I will find out who you are and what you are up to!" Merlin glared at the cloaked man.

"Merlin! Where are you!?" Arthur's voice rang out again, this time closer to the pair. Merlin took once last look at the cloaked man before running to intercept Arthur. He didn't want to leave the other sorcerer just standing there, but the man had been right when he said that Merlin wouldn't kill him, not while he wasn't doing anything.

"Merlin, there you are," Arthur growled out, "where'd you go?"

"Oh, nowhere in particular," Merlin replied nonchalantly, looking over his shoulder to see an empty street.

"You know, you are the strangest person I have ever known."

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-Holds up a white flag- Am I forgiven?

Honest opinions are always welcome!


	11. Chapter 11

As always, I want to start of with thanking all the reviewers. I am sorry I didn't get around to responding to each review, University has been killing me. That leads into my next topic…once again, I am sorry it took so long for an update. Thanksgiving break, and in turn winter break, is right around the corner, and I will have plenty of time to write then. :D I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Morgana sighed irritably as she ran into another guard. This was entirely unnecessary, ever since the night of the earthquake, she literally couldn't walk around a corner without bumping into a guard. She looked at the closest guard, "Will you please give me some room to breathe?"

"Sorry, my lady. We are just following orders, you would have to take it up with the King or Prince Arthur," the guard replied.

"I think I will."

* * *

"And you are sure he caused the earthquake?"

Merlin threw his book on the table, "Yes, Gaius, I am sure! He knew things about me, about my magic. How could he have known?"

Gaius sighed and shook his head, "I don't know, Merlin."

"Well, if you don't, then who does!?" Merlin hollered, slamming his hand onto the table. He was beyond frustrated, someone had to know who this man was.

"It would take a very powerful sorcerer to cause the earthquake, he has to be known somewhere. I will keep looking in the records," Gaius replied calmly, "but Merlin, I can't guarantee anything. In the meantime, I suggest you keep close to Arthur, and keep your head down. Camelot has never experienced such an earthquake, and Uther is bound to suspect magic."

"Gaius, if he is planning something, I can't just sit around waiting for more people to die!" Merlin thought of all the bodies lying in the roadway.

Gaius raised an eyebrow, "And what exactly are you planning on doing? You have no idea what he is planning, what he is capable of, or how you will defeat him if you have to fight him. Give me time, I will see what I can find out."

Merlin stared at Gaius for a moment and then collapsed into a chair, "I suppose you are right."

"Of course I am," Gaius said, earning a small smile from Merlin, "Now, if I were you, I would go make sure that all of the chores Arthur gave you are done."

Merlin sighed before dragging himself out of the chair, it never ended.

* * *

Morgana didn't even pause to knock before shoving the doors to Arthur's room open. As she was about to berate Arthur for assigning a ridiculous number of guards to her, Arthur's voice called out from behind his wardrobe door.

"It's about time you got back, I was beginning to think you had fallen asleep…again." Arthur said, tossing his dirty shirt over the door at Morgana. "Where are all of my clothes? You were supposed to grab them on your way up here…..Merlin? Merlin, are you even listening to me?"

No wonder Merlin seemed so frustrated, it was impossible to get a word in once Arthur started talking. Seeing her chance, she finally spoke up, "You will have to wait a bit longer for your clothes, there are more pressing issues at hand."

Arthur instantly stepped out from behind the wardrobe door and saw a livid Morgana staring back at him. He allowed himself a small smirk as he watched Morgana's attempt to hold onto her anger, despite the rising blush in her cheeks. The chivalrous side of Arthur briefly considered putting his dirty shirt back on, but his stubborn side won out, if she wanted to barge into his room, then she could deal with it.

"And what would those be?" Arthur asked, walking over to the table in his room to grab an apple.

"Um," Morgana berated herself, she was being a silly girl, she had seen shirtless men before. Growing up, she would often convince one of her guards to lend her his armor. She would then go and practice with the Valeskan knights. Since they did not know it was her, they would continue to practice in the heat without bothering to cover themselves. However, she was never in a room with one of them alone, and she was also never in an alliance to marry one of them.

"Yes?" Arthur inquired, taking a bite of the apple.

Knowing that he was only trying to get a rise out of her, Morgana decided to push on, "I want you to withdraw some of my guards."

Arthur's eyebrows rose, "After what happened last week?" He shook his head, "I don't think so."

"It was an earthquake! You could have ordered all of your knights to guard me and it could have happened the exact same way," Morgana exclaimed. "Besides, I can take care of myself, I don't need you or your knights, to protect me."

"Are you finished?" Arthur set his apple on the table and walked over to her. Stopping close enough to Morgana that she had to look up, Arthur calmly replied, "The guard stays, if something happens to you, I will not have your father restarting the war under the pretenses that we did not do enough to protect you. If you only want a few guards, I am sure that we can find a nice windowless room for you to stay in."

Morgana glared up at him, realizing he wasn't going to budge on his decision. Deep down she knew he did it for good reason, but that didn't stop her from being annoyed. Not wanting to look at his smug smile any longer, Morgana decided to return to her room, but not before shoving Arthur backwards as hard as she could, smirking as his arms flailed to prevent him from falling. As Arthur regained his balance, he cringed as the sound of the doors slamming echoed through his chambers.

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Merlin ran down the stairs to the laundry, he had forgotten to pick up Arthur's clothes earlier, and now he was running late. He quickly sought someone out and they pointed to the large basket that held the now clean clothes. Grabbing the basket, he thanked them and began weaving his way back through the busy room. Merlin successfully made it through the maze of washers and had the stairs in sight when he found himself falling backwards, with all of the clothes raining down over his head. Groaning out loud, Merlin quickly began to shove Arthur's clothes back into the basket.

"It seems the only time we get to see each other is after we have collided."

Merlin glanced up to see Gwen shoving clothes into a basket as well. Smiling Merlin replied, "It seems so. We should work on our timing."

"Running late again?" Gwen noticed that Merlin was frantically grabbing clothes as he was talking to her.

"Again? I am never late," Merlin scoffed. His scoff turned into laughter as Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Okay, perhaps that isn't true."

"Perhaps?" Gwen asked in disbelief. "I am honestly surprised Arthur hasn't fired you for it yet."

Having grabbed all of Arthur's clothes, Merlin stood up, "Me too, I should probably be going though, I don't want to tempt it."

Gwen chuckled softly, "Okay Merlin, see you the next time we run into each other."

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"Enter," Arthur called when there was rapping on his door.

"Sorry I'm late," Merlin apologized as he entered the room carrying the basket of clothes.

"You know, I am so used to you being late, I might die of shock if you got here on time," Arthur shook his head, reaching in the basket to grab a shirt out. As he pulled his hand out, he brought along a blue dress. After staring at it for a moment, he turned to Merlin, "Can you do anything right?"

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_Next Chapter_: I promise that Merlin and Gwen will actually have some conversation. I had to bring her back into the story, and this was just how it happened. Also, I am hoping to explore our mystery sorcerer some more.

Honest opinions are always welcome! ……I am going to also throw in a shameless request for reviews. Over 40 people have this story in their favorites, and I (like other people) am horrible addicted to reviews. :D However, even if you don't review, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	12. Chapter 12

So….do I have to use my adorable niece as a shield? You guys wouldn't throw things at a cute innocent girl would you? I swear I can explain why I have been a horrible updater…again. The first, finals killed me. At one point me and my roommate were so delusional that we were making videos about snuggies at four in the morning…it was a very sad and scary day. Seeing as I got done with finals less than a week ago, I have been attempting to recover all the brain cells that were devoted to ancient Chinese history and international relations and devote them towards getting ready for Christmas. Then the second problem came in when I got major writers block. However, to make up for it, there is a lot of Merlin/Gwen dialog happening in this chapter!

Now, here is my Christmas present to you all!

Disclaimer: As hard as I have tried, I have not managed to obtain the rights/cast of Merlin. However, they are making it extremely enticing to try harder as they parade Bradley James around shirtless, just saying.

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"What you suppose cause an earthquake of that magnitude to occur in Camelot?" Uther asked Gaius. Uther had been too busy trying to handle the aftermath of the earthquake, that he had just begun to question why it happened in the first place.

"I am not sure," Gaius answered cautiously, not wanting to spark another one of Uther's witch-hunts, "but I will look into it, Sire."

Uther nodded, he trusted Gaius to narrow down the source of the earthquake; after all, Gaius had stood by him for years. "Thank you, Gaius. One more thing," he added, "I would like you to check on Princess Morgana, her father got word of the earthquake and he wants information on her health."

"Of course, Sire," Gaius agreed.

"That is all, come tell me of your findings about Morgana," Uther said, dismissing Gaius with a wave of his hand.

* * *

"He didn't," Gwen said in disbelief. She had been surprised when Merlin had come up to her as she was eating her lunch and asked her if he could join. After immediately saying yes, she was more surprised at how easily the conversation was flowing. It hadn't taken them long before they had moved onto the topic of Arthur and his tantrums.

"Oh, he most certainly did," Merlin interjected. "He stormed into his room, tripped on one of his boots he had left out, and fell flat on his face!"

Gwen burst into laughter, she could just imagine the shocked look on Arthur's face as he fell towards the ground. "I am sorry, I shouldn't laugh…"

"Why not?" Merlin asked her. "I did."

"I bet Arthur loved that," Gwen replied with a shake of her head. She still couldn't understand their relationship. For the majority of the time, Arthur would treat Merlin horribly, but then every once in a while, she would catch the two of them joking around like old friends.

"Of course," Merlin said with mock seriousness, "he loved it so much that he gave me the honor of mucking out his stables for a solid week."

"What is it like working for him?" She asked, wanting to know Merlin's take on the matter.

"Frustrating," Merlin said, smiling after his one word response. Upon seeing Gwen's slightly raised eyebrows he decided to continue, "but at the same time as rewarding, I get to see sides of Arthur that he doesn't show everybody."

"Really? Because it seems like he treats you as poorly as everybody else…perhaps worse," Gwen commented.

"Oh, he does," Merlin said offhandedly with a small wave of his hand. "But there is more to Arthur than the bully he makes himself out to be. He cares so much for Camelot, and everyone in it, not just the nobles. He would do anything for them; however, he always has the tendency to show his worst side to people."

Gwen smiled, "See, I knew you cared for him."

Scoffing, Merlin shook his head, "No, I just think that people write him off as a prat before they get to know him."

"Like you did?" she asked.

"No," Merlin chuckled, "Now that I know him I still think he's a prat."

"Merlin!" Gwen admonished while laughing, "You shouldn't say things like that."

Merlin stared at Gwen as she laughed, he had never encountered anyone quite like her. He had also never seen her go so long without rambling, this was the first time he had seen her relaxed enough to not second guess her words. "So, we have talked about Arthur, we have talked about me, now tell me something about you."

Gwen's laughter immediately stopped, "About me? Why would you want to know about me?"

"Just curious," Merlin quickly answered, hoping that Gwen wouldn't notice the blush that was staining his cheeks.

"Oh," Gwen responded, trying to keep the same blush from occurring on her cheeks as well, "there isn't much to me. I'm the daughter of a blacksmith, I am a servant in the castle…"

"Come on, there is more about you than that," Merlin prodded.

"What makes you so sure of that?" Gwen asked, almost bitterly. "That is all anyone ever sees me as, so it must be true."

Merlin gaped at her, he had no idea that she thought so little of herself, of course there was more to her. A solid minute went by in silence and while Merlin was thinking about what to say to her, Gwen had stood up and was preparing to leave. Lightly grabbing her arm, Merlin finally spoke up, "That isn't all you are Gwen, and trust me, people can see that. You are one of the kindest hearted people I have ever met in my life. You do not care what station a person holds in life, you are willing to befriend them and help them in times of need; you are a most loyal friend, and I am proud to be able to call you one."

Gwen blinked a few times after Merlin was done, "I….um……" she stuttered, her face bright red, "……thanks."

Merlin smiled at her flustered response, "You're welcome."

"I uh…I should really be getting back to Morgana now," Gwen said motioning towards the castle.

"Oh yeah, Arthur is probably wondering where I am." To be honest, Merlin had completely forgot that he had a job to do, his time with Gwen had seemed to fly by.

For a moment neither of them moved, till Gwen shook her head and smiled, "Thanks again, Merlin…you know, for sitting with me."

"Any time," Merlin could feel his smile get even bigger.

* * *

Gaius sat in front of an annoyed looking Morgana, "And you are not experiencing any trauma from the night of the earthquake? No nightmares, flashbacks, anything?"

"No, for the last time, I am fine," Morgana snapped out. She did not mean to lash out at Gaius, he was only doing his job, it was just that she was tired of being coddled. She could handle herself perfectly fine, and there was no reason for a physician to check up on her.

Before Gaius could continue there was a soft knock at the door. "Come in," Morgana called out.

"My Lady," Gwen said, entering the room, stopping when she saw Gaius. "Should I wait outside?"

Morgana looked at Gaius, inwardly pleading that he give her a clean bill of health.

"I am finished," Gaius had determined that there was nothing wrong with Morgana, but through the course of his questions, there seemed to be something off about her. "I will tell the King that you are fine, but if you ever need anything, let me know," he finished with a kind pat on her shoulder.

"Thank you, Gaius. I will remember that," Morgana replied with a smile.

* * *

"Ah, Merlin," Arthur smiled mockingly, "Glad to see you found the time to get back to your job."

"Sorry, Sire," Merlin said, carrying in a tray of food for Arthur's lunch. "I lost track of time."

Rolling his eyes, Arthur sat down at the table in his room, "Why doesn't that surprise me? Do I even want to ask why you are late? Or should I just chalk it up to you being lazy?"

"I'm not lazy," Merlin said with indignation, "I was just talking to a friend."

"Since when do you have friends?" Arthur asked with a raised eyebrow as he took a piece of bread off the plate.

"Ha ha," Merlin deadpanned. "If this whole future King business doesn't work out for you, you should consider a career as a royal fool."

Arthur stopped eating and stared at Merlin, "What did you just say?"

Merlin briefly considered backtracking, Arthur was giving him a chance to change what he said, however, the look on Arthur's face was worth repeating himself, "I said that you should become a fool, you know, a jester."

"I know what it means," Arthur said, chucking the piece of bread at Merlin. "You know, one day I am going to have you locked away for speaking to me like that," he said, threatening to throw another piece of food at Merlin.

"You wouldn't do that," Merlin said confidently.

"Oh really?" Arthur asked him, with a threatening smile.

"Nope, deep down…and I mean really deep down…you like arguing with me. If you didn't, you would have sacked me a long time ago."

Arthur wouldn't admit it out loud, but that was partly true, he did enjoy arguing with Merlin. He had bootlickers as servants his entire life, then Merlin came along and finally gave him someone to verbal spar with. However, another reason that he hadn't even admitted to himself yet, was that Merlin was the closest thing to an actual friend that he had ever had. Before, he couldn't talk with anybody about the pressures he was under, trying to impress his father, trying to be the prince that Camelot needed; but now he found himself confiding in Merlin, and more importantly, trusting Merlin to keep it quiet.

However, he would never give Merlin the satisfaction of knowing he was right, "Whatever you want to believe; truthfully though, it's just because I do not want to go through the trouble of finding a new servant."

Merlin busied himself with picking up Arthur's room so that Arthur wouldn't see the victorious grin on his face. That was the same excuse Arthur had used when he came down into the Lower District the night of the earthquake in order to find him. "Of course you don't, after all, that would draw you away from all the important things you are supposed to be doing…like wooing Morgana."

Merlin looked up just in time to see Arthur pull off one of his boots and hurl it at him.

* * *

_Next Chapter_: _The man who caused the earthquake will get some story time, some Morgana/Arthur, and more…_

Can I put my niece down now? I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope you have a Happy Christmas!

Honest opinions are always welcome and appreciated. Since it has been a while since I have written anything for this story, I am hoping that I kept it in the same tone as previous chapters.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I would like to thank everyone for their reviews! They are very much appreciated and they make me want to get you a chapter as fast as I can. I do have a question for you all though. Are you still enjoying the Morgana/Arthur and the Gwen/Merlin path that this story seems to be on? It would help me out a lot if you let me know what you were thinking. That's all I have, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: Still don't own it, still want to own it.

* * *

The owner of The Olde Hearth Inn slowly wiped down the grime covered counter. His inn had seen much better days, but with other luxurious accommodations available only poor travelers stopped in, and they never stayed long. As he was about to lock up for the night, a soft knock echoed through the room.

"Jus' a moment," he called out. Opening the door he wasn't surprised to see that the man had a hood pulled over his head, darkening his features so that they weren't recognizable. With his inn being located in the lower town, sometimes the travelers were less than savory.

"I require a room for the night," the figure immediately informed the portly inn keeper.

"Can ya pay?" The inn keeper asked, looking over the hooded figure.

Reaching under his cloak, the man pulled a purse full of coins out and dropped it into the inn keepers waiting hand. "I think that should take care of it."

Sputtering, the inn keeper felt the weight of the purse in his hand, he knew that for the man to pay this much money, he wanted his location to remain a secret. While he hadn't received a payday like this in…ever…he needed to make sure he wasn't risking his head for it. Looking closely at the man, the inn keeper asked, "King's not lookin' for ya is he?"

"If he was, do you think I would tell you?" The hooded man asked with an audible sneer. Taking a step closer to the flustered inn keeper, the man lowered his voice, "I need a place to stay, you can help me or…" he trailed off.

With a sense of foreboding, the inn keeper let the man inside and began leading him towards the stairs, "I'd better not get any trouble from ya."

"Sileo," the hooded man whispered, his eyes flashing amber.

The inn keeper spun around when tried to talk but couldn't; with his eyes wide, he tried to make a run for the door.

"Adustum trucido sepelio!" The hooded man shouted, as the inn keeper reached the center of the room. The hooded man watched in amusement as the inn keeper burst into flames, his mouth open in a silent scream. The flames only lasted a few moments until there was only a charred bit of floor as evidence.

"Stupid man, he shouldn't have asked so many questions, I may have let him live." With a dark chuckle proving that he would have in fact killed him anyways, the hooded man made his way up to an empty and began to draw himself a bath, he needed to look presentable for the next stage of his plan.

* * *

Morgana had been talking a walk through the castle before turning in for the night when she heard voices coming from the throne room. Knowing that the court would not be in there that late at night, she crept closer to try and find out what was going on.

"Father, I really don't think my knights are to blame," Arthur said, attempting to calm his father down. Uther had just gotten around finding out who was supposed to be guarding Morgana the day of the earthquake and he wanted them to be punished for letting her out of their sight.

"If something had happened to her," Uther began.

"I know Father, but surely the circumstances must be taken into consideration. They did the best they could," Arthur replied, trying to keep his temper under control. His father would usually listen to him if he approached something delicately; the moment his anger flared, his father's would as well and then the conversation would be over.

"There is no excuse," Uther said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You will see to it that they are punished for their lack of attentiveness."

"No, I won't," Arthur declared, folding his arms across his chest.

Uther chuckled mirthlessly and replied in a tone that didn't leave room for argument, "Don't be absurd Arthur, you will punish them."

"No," Arthur said again with a shake of his head, "they did nothing wrong. If I begin punishing my knights when they are not at fault, what kind of leader would that make me?"

"The kind who listens to his King, and his father!" Uther snapped at him. "The knights may be under your control, but it would do you well to remember who is King. If I feel that you are not doing your duty, I can assign them to someone else."

Arthur gritted his teeth, he knew that his father would make good on his threat, just in order to prove to Arthur that he had the power. "It is my birthright to lead the knights."

"Yes, it is and I do not wish to deny you of that," Uther replied, "but there are times when your council is appropriate and there are times when you must do as you are told. What is your decision?"

Arthur stared hard at his father, trying to gauge whether or not he could push this issue. From what he could see, his father wasn't going to budge on the matter. So, with a slight incline of his head, Arthur replied, "They will be punished, Sire."

"Good, now that the matter is closed, I will turn in for the night," Uther said with a small smile. Turning to Arthur on his way out of the throne room, Uther added, "And Arthur, make sure it happens before tomorrow evening."

"Of course, Sire," Arthur consented. Arthur then followed his father out of the throne room, but went in the opposite direction, not wanting to return to his chambers until he had calmed down.

Morgana watched as Arthur walked off and ran to catch up, grabbing him by the arm, she pulled him over to a small alcove. "How dare you agree to punish those knights! They didn't do anything wrong, they tried to protect me, it wouldn't have even mattered if it was you who was protecting me, it could have gone the same way!"

Arthur glared at her, he just wanted to work off some of his anger alone, but since she was right in front of him, she provided the best opportunity. "I see you have been eavesdropping. Do you make it a habit of listening to other people's conversations?"

"I hardly think that's the point here," Morgana replied, trying to bring the conversation back to the knights.

"I think it is the point. Conversations between my father and myself are private, which means that you aren't privy to them. Understand?" Arthur asked with raised eyebrows.

Morgana blushed slightly, she really hadn't been planning on listening in on their conversation, it was purely on a whim that she stopped. However, it had given her insight into the relationship between Uther and Arthur. "I am sorry…I shouldn't have listened."

"No, you shouldn't have," Arthur snapped at her and started to walk away. He didn't bother to withhold a groan as she grabbed his arm again.

"Oh, don't make that sound," Morgana reprimanded. "I know you agree with me, those knights shouldn't be punished."

Arthur shook his head, "It doesn't matter what I believe, the King has made his decision and I am going to abide by it."

Peeling her hand off of his arm, Arthur stepped out of the alcove and continued on. He only paused momentarily when Morgana called after him, "And people say you are a better man than your father…you are nothing more than a sycophant."

* * *

The next afternoon, Morgana, Arthur and Uther were enjoying their lunch…at least Uther was. With Morgana still fuming about Arthur's decision and Arthur annoyed at Morgana's current existence in his space, tensions were running high.

"So, Arthur," Uther began as he picked at the food in front of him, "Have the knights been dealt with?"

"Yes, father," Arthur replied, ignoring Morgana's glare, "they have been dealt with accordingly."

"Good," Uther said with a nod of his head, "and what was their punishment?"

Arthur took a drink of water, cleared his throat, and then quickly replied, "They are on stable duty for a week."

Shocked silence filled the air until Uther fully understood what Arthur had told him, "They are on stable duty?" He asked harshly.

"Yes, for a week," Arthur continued as if nothing were amiss. He glanced up and pretended not to see his father's tightened grip on his goblet, nor the slight reddening of his face as he tried to withhold his anger.

"Lady Morgana," Uther said through clenched teeth, "Would you please give me and my son a moment?"

Looking back and forth between father and son, Morgana nodded slowly, "Of course, my Lord."

As Morgana left the room Uther continued to stare at Arthur. The door had barely shut when Morgana could hear him explode. "I thought I gave you an order!"

"You did," Arthur said casually, "and I punished them, just like you told me to."

"You know perfectly well that this was not what I meant," Uther yelled, pointing a finger at Arthur.

Arthur put on a confused expression, "How was I supposed to know? You told me to punish them for their lack of attentiveness…this is the same punishment I would give any knight charged with that."

Uther just stared at his son, "I raised you, don't think you can use that look and have me believe it."

In a way, Uther was impressed that Arthur had figured out a way to both follow his orders, as well as get what he wanted. That talent would come in handy later when he was negotiating treaties with other kingdoms. Uther sighed, "When did you start questioning me so much?"

Arthur smirked at his father, "When did I start talking?"

Uther let out a rare smile and shook his head, "You're right, this isn't new, you have always been a thorn in my side."

"Now, wait a minute!" Arthur exclaimed in mock indignation. "It's not my fault. After all, it's like you said, you raised me. So, I think we should place the blame on you."

Chuckling, Uther raised his hand, "I concede. However, in the future, I would prefer that you don't find ways around my decisions."

"I won't," Arthur replied.

"Good…"

Arthur went on to add, "On the condition that you listen to my suggestions before making your decision; especially when it involves my knights."

"I never should have taught you how to make a deal," Uther replied pensively. "Okay, I agree, I will listen to your opinion, but my word is final."

"Works for me," Arthur said, withholding his smile at the small victory he just had.

Uther stood up and started to make his way to the door, "I am leaving now, before I get talked into giving you the throne before I die."

Arthur followed his father out of the dining hall. Turning to Uther, Arthur had to comment, "I don't think you have to worry about that…"

"No?"

Arthur shook his head and smiled broadly, "After all, you're so old, I just have to wait a bit longer."

"Why you…" Uther let out another smile as Arthur danced out of the way of his kick and ran out of the castle.

* * *

No Merlin? No Gwen? I know…I left them out for a reason, I really wanted to focus on the relationship between Uther and Arthur.

_Next Chapter_: Merlin and Gwen make a reappearance. More on the mystery man. Perhaps after Arthur's actions in this chapter, Morgana will start to warm up to him???

Honest opinions are always welcome! And please remember my question at the beginning of the chapter.

:)


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: This is an A/N to say that there is an A/N at the end, please read!

* * *

The afternoon once again found Merlin and Gwen eating their lunches on the steps that led down to the courtyard. Without planning it, eating together had become a part of their day for the past two weeks. Not that either one wanted to question it for fear of the other shying away.

"So, what does Arthur have you doing to get ready for the tournament?" Gwen asked, referring to the upcoming tournament that was being held in honor of Arthur's birthday.

Merlin took a bit of his sandwich before answer, "Oh you know, the usual," he replied with a slight shrug and a crooked smile. "Merlin, polish my armor. Merlin, wash my clothes. Merlin, groom my horse. Merlin, you are a complete idiot."

Gwen laughed loudly, "That sounds like Arthur, but you don't really believe that do you?"

"Believe what?"

"That you are an idiot."

Merlin shook his head, "Most of the time no, but every once in a while, it seems like I can't do anything right…perhaps Arthur actually has a point."

Losing all of her humor, Gwen looked at Merlin with a slight frown, "I don't believe that. You are meant to do great things, Merlin, I just know it! And if Arthur can't see you for how great you really are, then he is the idiot!"

Merlin stared in shock at Gwen, trying to ignore the blush that was staining his cheeks red. Before he had a chance to embarrass himself with a response an irritated voice spoke up behind him.

"I am starting to wonder if the servants around here remember who I am."

"Arthur!" Merlin exclaimed, turning around to see the peeved price crouching on the steps behind him and Gwen. "We didn't see you."

"Obviously," Arthur replied with a roll of his eyes. He then looked at Gwen who at the moment looked like she had seen a ghost. "Well, don't let me interrupt, you two should keep talking. I have to admit, I find the subject _very_ interesting," he said pinning Gwen with a stare.

Gwen didn't even hear Merlin mutter, "Of course you do," underneath his breath, she was too busy gaping at Arthur. Despite her run-ins with him or her conversations to Merlin, she was entirely nervous around him, always had been. And at this moment, entirely frightened. "My lord," she stuttered out.

Arthur's eyebrows went even further underneath the fringe of his hair. He vaguely knew her from around the castle, and Merlin was always talking about her. Since she was a good friend of Merlin, he had expected the same level of insolence that he received from Merlin, not this wide-eyed and frightened girl. It almost made him feel bad for scaring her…but only almost.

"My lord," she started again, "I didn't…what I meant was…if I offended you…" she stopped abruptly and shut her eyes, if she couldn't see him then it would be easier to talk. However, she never got to finish her apology.

"Oh, stop picking on her, Arthur," Merlin commanded, giving Gwen a supportive smile when her eyes popped back open. "I say things like that all the time and you don't give me a hard time."

"Yes," Arthur nodded, "I do. You're just too much of an idiot to understand me."

"He's not an idiot," Gwen snapped before she could stop herself.

Arthur smirked, he should have realized by her earlier rant that the only way to get her to rise to the bait would be to insult Merlin. "Is that so?"

"Yes," Gwen replied with as much vigor as before. "You should be glad he is still working for you, in fact he is probably your only friend and calling him an idiot is a poor way to get him to remain that way."

Merlin ran his hand through his hair, he had no idea how to stop this, both Arthur and Gwen were two of the most stubborn people he knew. Gwen would continue to defend him, because that was just the type of person she was and she would do what she thought was right. And Arthur would continue to fight with her, just because he didn't know how to stop.

"Merlin?" Arthur repeated with derision. "In case you have forgotten, Merlin is my servant, not my friend. And another thing, I already have friends, why would I need someone like Merlin?"

"Oh, thanks," Merlin slid in under his breath.

"Don't kid yourself," Gwen carried on, ignoring Merlin's soft attempts at getting her to calm down. She couldn't believe the fact that Arthur would not recognize Merlin as his friend. "Those people aren't your friends, they are your lackeys. If you weren't the Prince then they would leave you without a second thought. You're nothing more than an arrogant bully!"

All emotions fled Arthur's face, even Merlin had never gone this far before. However, unlike with Merlin, who he would have just thrown in the stocks, he didn't know what to do with Merlin's little servant friend…Guinevere or whatever her name was. It would look horrible if he were to throw a girl into the stocks, not to mention, Merlin would never shut up about it. Realizing he was still staring at her, Arthur turned his glare to Merlin, "Well, don't just sit there! You have things to be doing!"

Merlin watched in surprise as Arthur stood up and walked away without saying anything to Gwen. Knowing that Arthur was going to be in a horrible mood the rest of the day he stood up as well and prepared to follow him.

"I didn't mean to make things worse," Gwen told him meekly as she stood up next to him.

"It's fine," Merlin replied with a wave of his hand. "Arthur will get over it. But, next time, try not to be so…honest. I think Arthur knows that most people just stay around him for his title, and I think that is why he is the way he is with me. If he can say and do all of the horrible things he does, and I still stick around, then it means I am not like the others."

Gwen looked down at the ground, she had never thought of it that way. After all the stories about how Arthur treated Merlin, she just assumed that he really was a prat. However, the way Merlin described it made it seem like Arthur was just afraid that Merlin would turn out to be like every other person in the castle. As Merlin was turning to head up the stairs, Gwen grabbed his arm, "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have said those things without thinking first. I suppose I don't really understand the two of you yet."

Merlin gave her a slight grin, "It's fine, I don't either."

* * *

Morgana stared around the table at Uther and Arthur as dinner was, once again, eaten in silence. It seemed that the only time she saw Arthur for more than a moment was during meals. However, it usually ended up being the most awkward event of her day.

"Preparations for the tournament in honor of your birthday are progressing nicely," said Uther, breaking the long stretching silence.

Arthur mentally shook himself out of his thoughts, "That's great, I look forward to competing."

Taking a sip of his wine, Uther turned to Morgana, "And what do you think of tournaments, Morgana?"

"They are great tests of strength and courage, my lord," said Morgana, giving the answer that was expected. To be honest, she always found them rather dull. The same knights, competing for the same things, money, gold, women. She had to spend hours on end sitting on a hard chair for them to stroke their egos. However, it did mean she would finally get to see why Arthur was so praised for his fighting skills.

"That they are!" Uther exclaimed, glad that Morgana hadn't attempted to stir up conflict between herself and Arthur. With that thought, Uther looked to his son, who had been distracted through the entire meal. Knowing what would help break this distraction, Uther decided to break some news. "So, knights from many different kingdoms are making their way to Camelot to compete."

"That's nice, father," Arthur replied, not really caring who would compete.

"There is one coming from Tintagel," Uther slid in, amused when Arthur immediately looked up from playing with the food on his plate.

"Who is coming from Tintagel?" Arthur quickly asked, sitting up in his seat for the first time that evening.

Uther didn't bother to hide his humor at Arthur's impatience. "Perhaps it should be a surprise."

"You have already started to tell me, so you might as well finish," Arthur prodded.

"I have to admit," Morgana said, jumping into the conversation, "I am curious as well."

Uther raised both of his hands in the air, "I can see I am out numbered, very well. I just received word from Tintagel that Prince Tristan is making his way to Camelot as we speak."

"Tristan is coming!" Arthur exclaimed, then quickly realized that his outburst was only suited for someone much younger than himself. However, he couldn't help it. Tristan had been a regular visitor in Camelot for most of Arthur's life, they had grown up together, gone through training together, they were more brothers than friends. In the past few years, Tristan had to spend less time in Camelot and more time taking care of his own kingdom, so their time together had been cut down dramatically.

"Yes, Tristan is coming," Uther repeated, glad that Arthur still remembered him fondly. "However, this time, I hope the two of you have grown up enough to behave around each other."

"You know us father," Arthur supplied before standing to go tell Merlin that he needed to work on a set of rooms for Tristan and his men, "we always behave."

Uther shook his head as Arthur nearly ran out of the room and looked towards Morgana, "Excuse Arthur's…abrupt departure. Tristan has not been able to make it to Camelot lately."

With a laugh Morgana dismissed his apology, "It is fine, to be honest, it is nice to see a different side of Arthur."

* * *

Honest opinions are always welcome!

A/N: Classes…they will be the death of me. I am now full swing into the new semester, and I am completely swamped. Not only do I have tons of classes, I also have a new job. This story also hit a stand still for me. As some of you know, I don't have a set story line, I just write what pops into my head; it is a system that has worked well for me in the past…but when I get stuck, I really get stuck. I am still thinking this is going to be Arthur/Morgana, the next chapter will really decide it. While not a lot happened in this chapter, I needed it to transition into the next story line, I do hope that the conversations were enjoyable though. J I did like writing Merlin/Gwen/Arthur, it was fun. I have also noticed that the amount of humor in the story has dropped off and I apologize. It wasn't until I watched a few episodes that I realized I have been leaving a huge chunk of the characters out…I will work on that for the next chapter. Since I have an idea going, I should be able to get the next chapter out much sooner. J Thank you for sticking with me, you guys are amazing!!!


	15. Chapter 15

Merlin was busy situating one of the oversized pillows on a spare bed when Morgana spotted him from the hallway.

"Getting ready for the 'Great Tristan of Tintagel'?" she asked Merlin with a smile.

Merlin looked up from his work with a laugh, "How'd you know?"

"I'll let you in on a secret," Morgana said, leaning in closer to Merlin, her voice dropping down to a whisper, "I…"

"Yes?" Merlin prodded, his eyes wide.

In the same whisper Morgana continued, "I overheard Arthur telling you to do it."

Merlin's shoulders slumped slightly, he had been hoping that she would have a secret like his, perhaps she was a seer or she could read minds. He would do anything to have someone to share his burden with. Gaius was great, but he never really seemed to understand the difficulties that Merlin faced. "Ha ha," he replied sarcastically.

Morgana let out a laugh, "Sorry, I shouldn't have pulled you along like that."

Shaking his head to tell her it was fine, Merlin stopped short when he saw Arthur leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Sire," Merlin greeted with a nod of his head. "You really shouldn't listen to other people's conversations."

Pushing himself off of the door frame, Arthur walked into the room, "Um, why should I? It is _my_ castle after all. Not to mention, it is about the only thing Morgana and I have in common."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Merlin mumbled underneath his breath as Morgana rolled her eyes. Then more loudly he replied to Arthur, "Technically, it is still your father's castle."

Narrowing his eyes Arthur walked over to the bed and picked up one of the newly placed pillows and chucked it at Merlin, smirking when it hit him square in the face.

Giving Arthur an exasperated look, Merlin picked up the pillow and placed it back on the bed. "If you're just going to make my job harder, would you go away?"

Arthur waited till Merlin had gotten the pillow back on just right before he picked it up and once again chucked it at Merlin.

"Hey!" Merlin shouted indignantly before the pillow hit him in the face.

Arthur smile as Merlin was once again forced to pick the pillow up.

"If you do that again, you can make it yourself," Merlin informed him in irritation. It had never taken him this long to make a bed before…well, except that one time when Arthur refused to wake up and Merlin just made the bed with him in it.

"It _is_ your job, you know."

Merlin huffed and looked at Arthur, "And what is your job? To make me miserable and work twice as hard as any other servant?"

Arthur smirked and gave Merlin a nod, "Yep."

"Are you two always like this?" Morgana chimed in as she watched the two of them squabble back and forth. She had to admit, they were highly amusing together, more like friends, not the master and servant that they were supposed to be.

Arthur and Merlin just stared at Morgana and then turned to look at each other.

"What is she talking about?" Arthur asked, as if Morgana had left the room.

"I dunno," Merlin replied with a shrug. He then gave a sly smile and looked down at the blanket in his hands, "Perhaps she is talking about how you are always being a prat and bullying me."

"Is that so?" Arthur questioned. "In that case, make sure that when you are done here, you can take my dogs for a walk, and after that you can make sure my chambers are clean."

"Okay, okay, I get it! You don't bully me," Merlin replied, raising his hands in the air. "However, you are still a prat."

Ignoring Morgana's chuckle, Arthur sputtered for a moment, "You….you ungrateful…useless…" Finally Arthur stopped and just stared at Merlin.

"Yes, Sire?" Merlin asked respectfully, as if he hadn't done anything wrong.

Without saying a word, or even breaking eye contact, Arthur grabbed the pillow and threw it at an unsuspecting Merlin, he then pivoted and stalked out of the room.

"That wasn't funny!" Merlin shouted as Arthur disappeared from the room.

"Yes, it was!" A distant Arthur replied.

Merlin, for what he swore was the last time, placed the pillow back onto the bed. "You see what I have to put up with?" He asked Morgana, gesturing towards the open door.

Morgana smiled, "I would say you are lucky you have a job. Not many princes would allow their servants to act the way you do. Not that there is anything wrong with it, it is nice to see someone put Arthur in his place."

"Glad you think so," Merlin replied with a goofy grin. "So, before Arthur came in and interrupted, you mentioned Prince Tristan. What do you know about him?"

"Well, Tintagel was never at war with Valeska, or Camelot, so it has always been sort of in the middle of the fighting. Tintagel would never ally itself with Valeska because of its connections with Camelot, but it also did not openly aid Camelot. Tristan is…well he is a lot like Arthur, but with more social skills."

Merlin laughed, "How so?"

Morgana thought for a moment, "From what I can tell, the people in Camelot truly admire Arthur, he is what they look for in a leader. But Tristan…Tristan can make a whole room of people think they are his best friend. He just has the ability to make everyone feel at ease, to trust him, and to like him. He also likes to have a good time, no matter where he is."

"He sounds fun," Merlin replied. While Arthur had the destiny to become the Once and Future King, he often took life seriously, all the time. Every once in a while, Merlin wished he would take a night for himself and realize that life isn't always about proving yourself. Perhaps with Tristan here, Arthur would relax for a while.

* * *

Gwen had been running around, like all of the servants, trying to get rooms ready for all of the knights who were coming into Camelot for the tournament. It seemed like there weren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. Right now she was setting up a room for the most recent arrival, Sir Cadoc. She had just finished and was about to leave when Lancelot led Cadoc into the room.

"Gwen," Lancelot greeted when he saw her. He always felt horrible when he saw her and Merlin working so hard, if they hadn't helped him, he wouldn't be able to fulfill his dream of becoming a knight. "Sir Cadoc, this is Guinevere."

"Sir Lancelot," Gwen greeted formally. "Sir Cadoc, I hope your room is made up to your satisfaction, and I wish you luck in the upcoming tournament."

"Thank you, Guinevere," Cadoc said with a tilt of his head.

Gwen gave a small curtsey and made her way out of the room in surprise, not many knights would be kind to a servant girl. As she passed Lancelot he mouthed, 'talk later".

* * *

"Father," Arthur whined, "when is Tristan's party arriving?"

Uther had been busy reading though some crop reports when Arthur made his way into the Great Hall. Arthur only managed to be silent for two minutes before he was back at that incessant question, if Uther had imagined that Arthur was going to be this impatient, he never would have told him Tristan was coming in the first place.

"Is my son, the future king of Camelot, honestly whining?" Uther asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That doesn't answer my question," Arthur fired back.

"I don't know!" Uther cried out in frustration. "Your continual pestering will not make him arrive any sooner. Don't you have something more productive that you could be doing? Because unlike you, I don't have time to laze around waiting for something to happen and you are distracting me."

Arthur decided he had pushed his father far enough for the day…in fact, he had probably pushed him far enough for the year. He had just begun to take for granted the fact that for once in his life, him and his father had been getting along, seeing eye to eye. If he didn't want it to go back to the way it was, then he should probably just let his father get back to work.

"Of course, father. I should go and make sure that all of the rooms are ready."

* * *

Arthur took the stairs two at a time, he needed some way to release his built up energy. Perhaps if Merlin had the rooms in order, he could go and practice his sword work. As he reached the top of the stairs and turned the corner he bumped into someone who was rushing to head down the stairs. Quickly reaching out, he grabbed a hold of the other person and kept them from toppling over. It was only after he had made sure they were steady that he noticed who it was.

"My Lord," Gwen said in surprise, "I am sorry, I didn't see you."

"Guinevere," Arthur greeted coldly. "You seem to apologize a lot for not seeing me."

Gwen looked down at the ground as a bright blush went across her face, it had been too much to hope for that Arthur would have forgotten…or just decided not to mention the other day.

"Tell me, are you going to thank me for making sure you didn't fall….or insult me some more?" Arthur asked her pointedly.

If it were possible Gwen blushed even more, continuing to look down at the ground she replied, "I am sorry….I shouldn't have said those things about you. You have never done anything to me and I shouldn't assume things about you based upon what other people say."

Arthur frowned at the girl who refused to make eye contact, where was the girl who had yelled at him for insulting Merlin? "You know, you can look up when you are talking to me."

Gwen didn't lift her head, "I could…but that makes it harder."

"What do you mean?" Arthur questioned.

"If I look at you, I will start stuttering, I can't help it," Gwen reluctantly admitted after a few seconds.

Arthur laughed loudly, her reason was completely unexpected. His laughter quieted down, only to leave a smile in its place, "You certainly are full of surprises. One moment you're stuttering around me, the next you are yelling at me, and now you can't even look at me."

Gwen's eyes finally snapped up to meet Arthur's. "Don't think you are special," she informed him, "I am like this around everyone…except for Merlin…mostly."

"Don't worry, after your words to me yesterday, I doubt I ever accuse you of thinking I am special," Arthur gave her a small nod of his head and resumed his mission to find Merlin.

"Arthur," Gwen called out, "I mean, Sire."

Arthur turned around and raised his eyebrows, "Yes?"

"About yesterday…I really am sorry."

"Don't worry about it, having Merlin as a servant has gotten me used to insolent servants," Arthur gave her a slight smile to let her know that he had forgiven her for it. While he had forgiven her, he hadn't forgotten…her words rang truer than most. He knew that there were people around him that would only call themselves his friend as long as he had power. That was one of the reasons he was so anxious for Tristan to arrive in Camelot. With both of them being princes, there was never any need to suck up to one another. It was definitely going to be interesting.

* * *

A/N: So, it was a quick update! I am excited about that and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I received some amazing reviews, so everyone has those people to thank for the chapter being up so quickly.

I am not going to start requiring a certain number of reviews before I post a new chapter, but it would be nice to hear from some of the 50 (or so) of you who have the story on alert. I like to hear people's opinions, whether or not they like something, etc. Your input is always appreciated, but remember, I am not going to start requiring reviews. J

Usually I bounce back and forth between Truce and Sides, however Truce has now gotten two chapters in a row, in a fairly close time period. I am sorry about that, I sat down to write a new chapter for Sides and this came out instead. But, for those who read both of my stories, the next chapter I write will be for Sides (hopefully before the weekend?).

Honest opinions are always welcome and appreciated!


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: -dodges rotten tomatoes for the tenth time- I am so sorry! So incredibly sorry! To say that school has run me ragged would be an understatement. I have been completely exhausted and writing so many papers that the thought of sitting down to write on my stories was far from my mind. However, it is now Spring Break and I have a bit of free time (and the sanity) necessary to write for you guys. I hope that you will continue to read even though I have been a horrible updater (which makes me feel bad knowing how amazing you all are).

I will stop with my repenting and let you get on to the chapter at hand. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

The next afternoon found Arthur drumming his fingers on the table in the Great Hall, he was in the middle of having lunch with his father and he just couldn't sit still. Finally after about five minutes Arthur glanced up at his father and quickly noted that the vein in Uther's forehead was getting more and more prominent as he continued to tap on the table. Uther was also turning a fascinating shade of red, in fact, it was so interesting that Arthur ceased his drumming to stare.

Uther let out an audible sigh of relief, one more minute of that and he was going to end up throwing his son in the dungeons. He was just beginning to relax when he saw Arthur sit up in his chair and open his mouth.

"Don't," Uther commanded.

Arthur looked indignant, "You don't even know what I was going to say."

"Yes, I do," Uther countered. "You were, for the hundredth time, going to ask when Tristan is going to be here. Once again, my answer is I don't know."

Huffing loudly Arthur slumped back in his chair and began to play with the food on his plate.

Uther picked up his fork and had it halfway to his mouth when, 'tap tap tap…tap tap tap'.

"Enough!" Uther shouted, his patience with his son finally reaching an end. "If you tap your fingers on this table one more time I am going to send Tristan home before you have a chance to say hello."

Arthur's fingers immediately froze and he stared at his father in dismay, "You wouldn't."

"I would if you don't start behaving like a grown man," Uther informed him.

The sound of snickering interrupted the silence, making Uther and Arthur turn towards an amused servant.

"Do you have something to add?" Uther questioned his son's manservant, who quickly ceased his laughing when he realized that the king was addressing him.

"Um, no," Merlin sputtered out before remembering who he was talking to, "my lord."

Uther just shook his head as he turned back to look at Arthur, he would have to remember to tell Arthur to teach his servant better manners.

"Do you know why Morgana didn't join us for lunch?" Uther asked Arthur.

"I don't, father."

"I would like you to go and check on her when you are finished," Uther told him.

"Couldn't you just send a servant?" Arthur whined. He had been trying to stay as far away from Morgana as possible and so far it had been working.

"No, I will not send a _servant_. I think you are forgetting who she is and what her reason is for being here. You need to remind yourself of your duties and begin to see the treaty through."

Arthur met his father's hard gaze and promptly stood up, "In that case I will take my leave and see what has held her up."

"Arthur," Uther said, dismissing him with a nod of his head.

"Father. Merlin," Arthur barked out as he strode through the doors that were opened by two guards.

Merlin remained silent as he nearly had to jog to keep up with Arthur's quick pace. He knew that the only thing out of Arthur right now would be a barb of some kind. Arthur didn't like being reminded of the situation he was trapped in and it put him in an extremely sore mood.

"Merlin, I want you to go and check on Morgana."

"But," Merlin began, all thoughts about remaining silent flying out of his head, "your father said that you…"

"I know what my father said, but you don't take orders from my father you take them from me," Arthur snapped.

"Oookay," Merlin dragged out, holding his hands in front of him in a gesture of surrender.

Arthur walked a few more paces before noticing that Merlin was still following him. Stopping abruptly, Arthur turned to face Merlin, his eyebrows disappearing underneath the fringe of his hair.

Merlin stared at him, confused for a moment before it finally clicked, "Oh, you meant right now."

Arthur lifted his hands up, strangling the air in front of Merlin, "Yes, I meant right now! Go!"

"No need to shout, you could have just said so," Merlin reprimanded.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath Arthur ground out, "Merlin, would you go and check on Morgana," he asked and then continued, "before I run you through and feed your body to my dogs."

Merlin threw on a bright smile and nodded at Arthur, "See, that wasn't so difficult."

"_Mer_lin!"

"Right, I'm going," Merlin hastily replied as he rapidly retreated and made his way to Morgana's chambers.

After knocking a few times on Morgana's door, the door opened to reveal Gwen.

"Gwen," Merlin greeted with a smile. "Arthur sent me up here to check on Morgana, she didn't attend lunch and Uther wanted to make sure she was okay."

"Merlin," Gwen greeted in return. "Morgana is just feeling under the weather today, she said she just wanted to rest for a while."

"Oh," Merlin replied, concern lacing his voice, "perhaps I should go and get Gaius."

"I don't think it is necessary, she just seems tired, but if it gets worse I will go and get him."

"Thanks, Gwen. I had better get back to Arthur, he is in one of his moods again," Merlin said with a smile.

"You're welcome," Gwen replied, giving Merlin a small wave as he turned to go back to Arthur.

* * *

Merlin rushed into Arthur's room, eager to finish with his daily chores so that he would have a few hours by himself to study the spell book Gaius had given him.

"_Mer_lin, how many times do I have to tell you to knock before entering?" Arthur's asked irritably.

"I don't know," Merlin answered honestly. Merlin then smiled cheekily, "Three more times?"

Arthur looked up from the papers on his desk and was about to answer him when the blowing of horns announced a new arrival in Camelot. While it could have been just another knight arriving to compete, Arthur leaped up from his chair and flew out of the door, with Merlin rushing behind him.

* * *

Morgana heard the same trumpets that had alerted Arthur to an arrival and slid off of her made bed.

"My lady?" Gwen questioned, last Morgana had told her was that she wanted to spend the day in her chambers.

"I will go and see who it is, it is what is expected of me as Uther's ward," Morgana replied as she straightened out her dress.

* * *

Arthur came to a sliding stop and he nearly collided with his father on the way out of the castle. "Father," he apologized, slowing to a collected walk next to his father.

The moment the castle doors were throne open, Arthur noticed the royal blue flags waving in the air and had to fight the urge to rush down the stairs.

Morgana and Gwen joined the others as they descended the stairs, it looked as if Tristan of Tintagel had finally arrived.

Uther and Arthur had barely reached the bottom step when a young man leapt off his horse and came over to them.

"Tristan of Tintagel, it is an honor to have you back in Camelot," Uther told him as he clasped Tristan on the shoulder. "I hope that your journey here went well and that you will enjoy your stay here."

"Your highness," Tristan said with a quick nod of his head, "my journey here was smooth and I look forward to spending time in Camelot once again."

Uther nodded in approval and lifted his hand from Tristan's shoulder, amused by how quickly Tristan went from being formal with him to turning to Arthur in order to greet him.

"Prince Arthur," Tristan greeted seriously.

"Prince Tristan," Arthur replied, just as emotionless.

They managed to maintain their stoic faces for all of three seconds before they both broke into laughter and grasped each others arms.

"It has been to long, Arthur," Tristan commented.

"Yes, it hasn't been the same without you around here to make things interesting."

"Well, we will have to fix that, won't we?" Tristan said with a mischievous smile. He had forgotten how much he enjoyed being in Camelot. While he was here he could forget about the troubles of helping to run a kingdom, forget about being groomed to inherit the throne, he was able to just be himself.

"Perhaps this was a bad idea," Uther muttered underneath his breath. Honestly, it was nice to see Arthur truly smiling. Uther knew that many people in his kingdom considered him to be heartless, but there was one thing in the world that had a complete hold on his heart and that was his son. There wasn't much he wouldn't do in order to protect Arthur and ensure his wellbeing.

Uther pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed that Morgana had joined them at the bottom of the stairs, "Tristan, may I introduce Princess Morgana of Valeska, my ward."

Tristan raised his eyebrows at Arthur, he had been raised a prince, he knew that Valeska and Camelot had been at war, and he knew that there was more to Morgana being there than just being Uther's ward. Turning to Morgana, Tristan took her proffered hand and kissed it lightly, "Princess Morgana, I have to say it is a pleasure to see you again."

"Prince Tristan," Morgana greeted warmly. Like she had told Merlin when he was making up the rooms for Tristan and his party, Valeska had never been at war with Tintagel and she had met Tristan on a number of occasions. "It is a pleasure to see you as well."

Morgana wasn't lying when she said it was a pleasure, Tristan was truly an enjoyable person to be around, not to mention he was devastatingly handsome…not that she would ever say that out loud. Unlike Arthur's straight blond hair and azure eyes, Tristan had a mop of curly brown hair that made his green eyes stand out. Around Arthur's height, he was slightly smaller through his shoulders, but he by no means appeared weak. And goodness, the way he smiled, it could melt lesser women on the spot. But thankfully for the sake of her pride, Morgana had been raised to hide any emotions that were not wanted.

Tuning back into the conversation, Morgana realized that Tristan had turned back to Uther.

"We have kept you standing outside for far too long, let us go inside, and you can get settled before the feast tonight." With that Uther climbed the stairs and went back to work, he knew that the next few days were going to be hectic and he wanted to get as much done as soon as possible.

"Merlin," Arthur called, waving Merlin closer, "will show you to your room and make sure you are settled."

"Merlin," Tristan greeted with a nod and a smile. Gesturing for his servants to begin unloading his things and grabbing one of the bags himself. He then turned to Arthur, "So eager to get rid of me already that you are pawning me off on your servant?"

"Well, knowing Merlin's talents, there is a chance he will lead you into some unknown hallway and we will never hear from you again," Arthur replied, smirking when Merlin turned around to glare at him.

Tristan laughed, "I think I will trust him to get me to my room unscathed."

It was Merlin's turn to smirk at Arthur who just shrugged, "It's your life on the line. I just have to give out a few orders to my knights and then I will meet up with you before the feast later.

With quick nods to each other, Arthur hurried away to give out the orders so that he could go and relax. Even though he wanted to immediately begin to have some fun, he knew that he had responsibilities and they unfortunately came first.

"Well, let's see about that room."

* * *

A/N 2.0: This ended up being a sort of transitional chapter, I needed to get Tristan introduced and it ended up taking up most of the chapter. I promise that the next will contain some real storyline.

With Tristan and Arthur think bromance…not slash. With the introductions it was really hard to make them seem excited without implying something more. They are just really great friends, nothing more.

So, Arthur and Tristan are finally in the same kingdom together and so far Arthur is still following through with his duties…

How is Morgana going to react to Tristan? Merlin? And what the hell has happened to the mysterious sorcerer???

Honest opinions are always welcome! And to be honest, even if it sounds like a plea, they motivate me to get a new chapter out for you wonderful people.


	17. Chapter 17

Thanks to you wonderful reviewers, I promise on this chapter I will get around to actually responding to your reviews. This ended up being a guy oriented chapter, hope you don't mind. : )

I figure since I don't do these often I will throw one in…Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin or any of its characters…as hard as I might try.

Enjoy!

* * *

Tristan chuckled as Merlin stumbled through the doorway to his temporary chamber. Merlin had insisted in carrying a trunk with two bags stacked on top of it all the way up to the room. The result was Merlin running into a door frame, tripping up the stairs, and dropping it on his foot while he was struggling to open the door. Numerous times Tristan had been about to offer his help, but with a stubborn look from Merlin decided not to. He didn't know why Merlin was so determined to make it up to the room on his own, but it did get him out of carrying more than two bags so he wasn't going to complain.

Merlin huffed as he worked to set the trunk on some place other than his foot. His poor foot was already throbbing and he didn't really feel like adding to his pain. He had caught Tristan opening his mouth a few times as he reached out to help, but Merlin wanted to do it himself. His reasoning was probably stupid, but he didn't want Tristan thinking he was completely useless, like Arthur did, it would be nice to be appreciated more often.

"This *gasp* is your *gasp* chamber *gasp* while you're *gasp* here," Merlin huffed out, with his hands on his knees, trying not to collapse on the ground.

Tristan laughed loudly, "Sit before I have to explain to Arthur why his servant is passed out on my floor."

Not even bothering to grab a chair, Merlin leaned back against the wall and slid down it. "Thanks," he replied, still out of breath.

"I think I should thank you, I really didn't think you were going to make it all the way up here." It really had looked like Merlin was going to give up when he had dropped the trunk on his foot.

Merlin narrowed his eyes, it was one thing for Arthur to make fun of him, it was entirely different when a stranger did it…even if that stranger was a prince. "What do you mean by that?" Merlin asked defensively.

Tristan stopped laughing long enough to look at Merlin's serious face, "Don't take offense, I certainly wouldn't have wanted to try and carry it, but then…that's what I have servants for."

"Well, you know what you can do with your trunk," Merlin began angrily and then noticed Tristan's smile, signaling that he had just been joking. Merlin deadpanned, "ha ha."

"So, you've been Arthur's servant for a while, right?"

"Too long," Merlin immediately responded and then, when he realized what he had said, grew bright red. "I mean…um…yeah, I have been his servant for a while."

Tristan worked hard at not smiling, he liked Merlin, from what he could tell Merlin was the perfect person to be Arthur's servant, he wouldn't be a bootlicker like the rest of them.

"So tell me, is Arthur still taking everything too seriously?" It had been a few years since he had last seen Arthur and even then he was too serious, but then, if Uther was _his_ father, he might be in the same boat. Actually his father was fairly strict; however, Tristan had his mother to help him. All Tristan had to do if he wanted to get out of some of his duties for a while was to go to his mother, Faeline and she would convince his father Meliac (how he had even been named something as normal as Tristan he would never know) to lighten up. While Faeline couldn't say no to Tristan, Tristan couldn't say no to Meliac, and Meliac couldn't say no to Faeline, so in the end, Tristan usually got what he wanted.

Merlin raised his eyebrows but didn't get a chance to respond because Arthur had finally finished with his knights and had made his way up to Tristan's room.

"Oh look, the great Prince Arthur has decided to grace us with his presence. Should we swoon? Or just fall at your feet in reverence?" Tristan asked with a cheeky smile.

Arthur pretended to think for a minute and then replied with a nod, "Falling at my feet should do."

Tristan walked towards Arthur and clasped his arm, "I think I'll leave that for your admirers."

"I can't believe it took a tournament to get you to come back to Camelot," Arthur commented with a shake of his head.

"If I had known you had Princess Morgana here I would have come sooner," Tristan replied, trying to find out Arthur's opinion on the whole situation without coming out and asking directly…well that and he probably would have come sooner, Morgana was beautiful. Tristan knew before Arthur opened his mouth that he wasn't happy with his situation, the moment he had mentioned Morgana, Arthur's entire stance tightened up and his smile became forced.

"Some things never change then, you're still willing to do anything for a pretty face," Arthur forced out, trying to appear as if he was unaffected by Tristan's question.

Tristan pushed aside the topic of Morgana, they could talk about her later for there was a much more entertaining topic standing in the room. "Just before you came in Merlin and I were talking about you."

Merlin's eyes went wide as he stared at Tristan, he immediately tried to look nonchalant as Arthur whipped around to face him.

"You were, were you?" Arthur asked Tristan while staring at Merlin.

"Yep," Tristan said, trying to mask his amusement. "Merlin had a lot of things to say about you."

Merlin frantically wracked his brain trying to remember his previous conversation with Tristan, but he wasn't coming up with anything incriminating.

"Really? And what exactly did _Mer_lin have to say?" Arthur bit out, taking a step closer to a pale Merlin.

By now it was all Tristan could do to keep himself from laughing. "Oh you know," he let out a quick snicker, "just that you were the best master that he could have."

"What?" Arthur turned to look at Tristan in disbelief, there was no way that Merlin would have said that.

"What?" Merlin tore his gaze away from Arthur to look at Tristan in disbelief. They might share a destiny, and Arthur did have his good qualities, but he was still a pain to work for.

After looking at Tristan they both realized that he was just messing with them. "Very funny, Tristan," Arthur said while rolling his eyes.

"I do try, after all, you need to lighten up from time to time," Tristan replied.

"Or perhaps you need to get more serious about things," Arthur countered.

Merlin just rocked back on his heels and let the two of them have at it, he certainly wasn't going to draw attention to himself, he didn't particularly want to spend the evening cleaning something of Arthur's.

"That is where you are wrong, it is never time to be serious! In fact, I say that tonight after the feast, we should go out and check out some of the inns," Tristan proposed.

Arthur sneered, "That has to be the worst idea you could think of. Why would I want to go drinking at an inn when I have everything I want right here."

"Come on, when was the last time you were out of the castle for something fun?" Tristan asked and then hastily tacked on when he saw Arthur opening his mouth. "And you weren't hunting."

Arthur's sneer remained, "What does it matter?"

"It matters because if you aren't careful you are going to become as boring as your father is," Tristan answered, knowing that Arthur wouldn't mind the barb at his father. "Come on, it is just one night, a few hours…who knows, you may even have fun."

Arthur started to contemplate Tristan's proposal, after all, it was only one evening, what could it hurt?

As if Tristan could sense that Arthur was starting to agree, he pushed forward, "It would also give you an evening without the chance of running into Morgana…"

That was the key to getting Arthur to fold, "Fine, but just this once."

"That's fine," Tristan said with a confident smile. He didn't say any more because there was a knock at the door.

"Sire," a servant addressed.

"Yes?" Both Tristan and Arthur called out, leaving the servant to look very flustered.

"Um…I meant…uh…" he stuttered.

Tristan looked over to Arthur, "He isn't one of mine, so I am imagining he is here for you."

"He probably is," Arthur conceded.

The servant looked relieved, "Yes, I am here to deliver a message to Prince Arthur."

Merlin rolled his eyes at how nervous the other servant was, it was just Arthur, he wasn't anyone to act so stupid around.

"He's quick on the ball," Tristan quipped. "We already figured that out, we are just waiting for the message."

"Oh right, the message," the servant mumbled out, turning a bright shade of red. "The King wants you in the Council room to finalize the plans for tonight's feast."

"Tell him I will be there shortly," Arthur ordered before mumbling, "That is if you can remember who the King is."

After the servant left the room Merlin turned towards Arthur and Tristan, "You two didn't have to make him so nervous."

"Merlin, why do you care? It isn't like we were doing it to you or your _precious_ Gwen," Arthur pointed out, satisfied when Merlin's cheeks started to redden.

"Gwen?" Tristan questioned, unfamiliar with the name.

"Oh yeah, short for Guinevere. Merlin here has a crush on her," Arthur informed with a smirk.

"I do not," Merlin said defensively.

"Come on, _Mer_lin, you don't have to lie to us," Arthur told him, putting his arm around Merlin's shoulder. "Everyone can see it, even blind people can see it."

Merlin angrily shook Arthur's arm off of him, "I'm not lying, I don't like her like that, we are only friends."

Tristan just watched in amusement as the two of them went at it.

"Friends who eat together all the time, give each other flowers?" Arthur prodded.

"It isn't like that!" Merlin yelled, upset with Arthur for teasing him and upset with himself for rising to the bait. Without asking for permission to leave Merlin began to storm out of the room, he stopped when he reached the doorway, "And if it were true, it just means that, unlike _you_, _I_ am not a prat that no one wants to be with!"

"Whoa," Tristan said with a low whistle when Merlin slammed the door shut. "I didn't expect something like that from him. He seemed so…quiet and calm."

Arthur scoffed, "That's just what he wants you to believe. Merlin is, without a doubt, the most insolent servant I have ever had."

"Then why haven't you sacked him yet?"

"I did," Arthur replied.

"But, then how…?"

Looking slightly sheepish Arthur replied with a shrug of his shoulders, "I rehired him."

Tristan threw his head back and laughed loudly, "You have no one to blame but yourself then. However, I wouldn't get rid of him either, there is just something about him."

"I know what you mean," Arthur replied before remembering his father had wanted to see him. "I'd best go and see my father, I'll see you later at the feast."

"Don't forget our plan for afterwards," Tristan called after Arthur's retreating form.

* * *

A/N: Sorry that this ended up being another transition chapter, but I needed to set things up and this was the only way I could think of doing it. However, you did get a chapter full of Merlin, Tristan, and Arthur, so you can't be too much to be upset with me…right?

So…what do you think? As always, honest opinions are always welcome and appreciated.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: A quicker update!? No way! I am pretty happy with myself actually, not only is it an update, but it is longer than the ones I have been doing previously. However, this next week is going to be crazy, so unless I finish another chapter before the end of the weekend, you'll have to wait until next weekend. However, I will be posting a chapter of "Sides", gotta keep things fair between stories. :) So, I will now stop my blabbering (it is really late/early) and let you guys read. Please note the…note at the bottom.

Oh, and thank you to all of you amazing reviewers!!!

* * *

A few hours later Merlin found himself dressed in that ridiculous 'official servant's outfit', standing behind Prince Arthur as the pre-tournament feast went on and on. It had been going on for two hours now and there were no signs that it was stopping anytime soon. Arthur had pulled Merlin aside before the feast began and told him that it was his job to make sure that Uther's cup was never empty. Arthur and Tristan had apparently decided that they would be able to make their escape a lot sooner if Uther had no idea what was going on.

That was how he ended up in this position, rolling his eyes as Uther demanded more wine, but it wasn't especially easy seeing as Uther kept moving his hands around as he talked, causing Merlin to chase the goblet around with the wine. Merlin sighed as he continued the dance, he couldn't help but wonder why they were having the feast the night before the opening of the tournament.

"So, Tristan, what do you think your chances are of beating Arthur in the tournament?" Uther asked, his face beet red.

Tristan took a drink of his goblet filled with water, "I don't know, Sire. It has been many years since I have seen Arthur in a tournament, however I have heard stories. I am eager to find out though."

"Come now, surely you have a guess as to who will," Uther started when Merlin's chase finally resulted in Merlin sloshing wine down the front of Uther's tunic. "You blubbering buffoon!"

Merlin's eyes went wide as he frantically grabbed a cloth to soak up the wine.

"Can't you do anything right!?" Uther shouted, the entire table falling silent. Ripping the rag out of Merlin's hand, Uther motioned his guards over, "Toss him in the dungeons, maybe while he is in there he will learn some etiquette."

Arthur stood up when he realized that Uther really intended on throwing Merlin in the dungeons, "Father, allow me to remove him," he suggested, grabbing Merlin's arm and hoping that in the morning Uther would have no recollection of the incident.

Tristan caught on and knew that this would be the perfect opportunity to sneak away from the feast and out of the castle. "Yes, my lord, we will take care of him," he assured, grabbing Merlin's other arm.

They quickly marched Merlin out of the hall and the moment the doors shut Tristan burst out laughing. "Thanks, Merlin, I thought we were going to be stuck there all night."

"No problem," Merlin said sarcastically. "Do you two mind letting me go now?"

"I don't know," Arthur replied thoughtfully, "I kind of like it when you can't move around, you would get into less trouble this way."

"Arthur, just let me go! You too, Tristan!" Merlin demanded impatiently. He felt like a child being led around by its mother.

Tristan released his arm, "Come on, Arthur, we have to find a way out of this castle."

* * *

Morgana had been sitting near Uther, listening to his drunken ramblings for the past thirty minutes. She had watched the whole scene with Merlin, Tristan, and Arthur and she couldn't help but think that there was something more going on. At least there was hope for them, they weren't stuck here listening to every pompous knight talk about how they were going to finally beat the reigning champion, Prince Arthur. It was sickening really, that all they could think about was a stupid tournament. However, at least they weren't drunk like Uther was. There had to be something more entertaining than this to do.

Looking over her shoulder, Morgana caught Gwen's eyes and jerked her head towards the door. Gwen frantically nodded in return, the feast was extremely dull.

"My lord," Morgana said, returning her gaze to Uther, "I am feeling a bit tired, I am going to go and rest."

Uther started to speak, but then paled slightly and looked like he was going to be ill. Instead of speaking he just waved his hand towards the door and Morgana took that as a sign that she was excused.

Morgana and Gwen quickly rushed out of the hall and then up to Morgana's chambers. Upon shutting the door they both leaned against it and laughed.

"That was…" Gwen began.

"Boring?" Morgana supplied. "Torturous?"

"Both," Gwen responded. "Now, would you really like to rest or…"

"Nonsense, it is still early, I was thinking maybe we could talk for a while?"

"Sounds lovely."

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Merlin asked skeptically as he, Arthur, and Tristan waited for the guards to pass. Both Princes hushed him and continued to wait for the best moment.

"I'm just saying, what if we get caught? You two will obviously be fine, but me? Uther is already livid towards me, this will just make him execute me instead of tossing me in the dungeons."

"Merlin!" Arthur hissed. "Will you _shut up_!?"

Tristan tried a different approach, "If we get caught we will just say that we ordered you to come along, after all, you technically can't go against Arthur's orders."

Arthur couldn't help mumbling under his breath, "Not that that's ever stopped him before."

Smirking at Arthur's comment, Tristan decided that it was now or never and stepped out from behind a column, signaling Merlin and Arthur to follow. It was a nerve wracking three minutes before they made it through the gates and into the town.

"So, this was your brilliant idea," Arthur said looking at Tristan, "where do we go?"

Tristan shrugged, "How am I supposed to know, it's been years since we last did this, I have no idea where any of the good inns are now."

Rolling his eyes for the hundredth time that night Merlin tapped the thinking princes on their shoulders. "I think I can help with that."

Arthur and Tristan followed Merlin through the streets of Camelot, trusting that he knew where he was going. It wasn't long before they were walking up to the door of The Spirited Pony.

"What a ridiculous name," Arthur commented, derision lacing his voice.

"It is one of the best inns in Camelot, also it is safe for you two to be here, so no complaining," Merlin ordered.

"Safe? As if the lot of them could do anything to us," Arthur countered.

"_The lot_ of them is exactly the problem. You are a great fighter, you probably are as well, Tristan…but if there are enough people, it wouldn't really matter much, would it?" Merlin snapped back. "Now, can you just stop complaining and go in?"

Before they had entered the noise had been almost deafening, but the moment the two princes followed Merlin in not even a whisper could be heard.

"Well, this is awkward," Tristan loudly proclaimed, "how about a round on me?"

His offer being accepted with thunderous shouts of approval, he, Merlin, and Arthur made their way to an empty table and were promptly given some ale.

"Only a few drinks, Tristan," Arthur warned as he took a sip of surprisingly good ale. He was also surprised by the inn, while the outside had looked like it was falling apart, the inside was fairly clean and well put together. "Don't forget that the tournament starts tomorrow."

"I'll remember," Tristan replied, rolling his eyes. "You worry more than my mother. All we have to do tomorrow is sit through some pompous parades, listen to your father drone on for a while, and then beat some pathetic knights. How hard can that be?"

"If we drink too much? Very," Arthur replied seriously. "Besides, how embarrassing would it be if we were to get taken out of the tournament in the first round?"

"It wouldn't be embarrassing," Merlin popped in as he took a drink of his ale, "it would be hilarious. Ow!"

Tristan chuckled as Merlin rubbed the back of his head and Arthur took another drink. "Enough talk about the tournament, let's have some fun!"

Three hours later and Merlin was beginning to regret the three pints of ale he had drank. Gaius was always telling him that he couldn't hold his ale and right now he agreed full heartedly. Why? Because at the moment there were two very drunk princes flirting with the barmaids and his brain was so fuzzy he couldn't think of a way to stop them, it wasn't like they were in a mood to be listening to him. Deciding that they were fine for a moment, Merlin stepped outside to hopefully clear his mind.

"So, do ya wanna get a room?" Tristan slurred out, twirling a strand of blond hair around his finger, lightly holding onto the girls waist. The girl in question flounced out of his grasp and went to help other customers. "I promise it'll be good!" He shouted across the inn.

While Tristan was pursuing, Arthur found himself being pursued. "Come on, my lord, I have a room upstairs, and like your friend here, I promise it'll be good."

"Izat so?" Arthur asked, smirking at the brunette who had sat herself in his lap.

"Let me show you," the brunette said, hopping off of Arthur's lap and leading him by the hand up the stairs.

"That's no fair," Tristan shouted while pouting, "how come you get to go upstairs!?"

Arthur found himself being shoved against the door as it closed and the brunette…what was her name again? Oh yeah, Sasha. What a lovely name, Sasha. It just rolled off the tongue. Sasha. Saaaa sha. Saaaaaaash mmm.

Arthur's thoughts about her name quickly disappeared as she began to kiss down his neck, and going even further down so that she was nibbling at his collarbone. Without knowing exactly how it happened, Arthur found himself without a shirt on. As Sasha kissed her way down his chest Arthur yanked her back up and spun so that he could pin her against the door so that he could kiss her. Deciding that they needed a bed, Arthur began to walk backwards, letting himself fall backwards when the back of his knees hit the edge of the mattress. As her brunette hair hit him in the face his mind quickly shifted to a different brunette, one he was supposed to be marrying.

As if she could sense the change in him, Sasha looked down at him in confusion. "My lord, is something the matter?"

---------

Merlin reentered the inn to see Tristan with a barmaid in his lap, looking very…comfortable, but who he didn't see was Arthur. He walked over to Tristan and found a way to tap him on the shoulder without touching the barmaid. "Where's Arthur?"

"Ugsairs," Tristan responded while kissing the barmaid.

"Huh?"

"Ugsairs!" he responded more forcefully this time, but still not stopping his ministrations of her mouth.

"What?" Merlin asked, still confused.

Tristan pulled away from the girl and glared at Merlin, "He's upstairs!"

"Why would he be…" Merlin started, but then froze as he knew exactly what he was doing upstairs. "No, no, no, he can't, he wouldn't, he would hate himself in the morning."

"He doesn't right now, so go 'way," Tristan ordered, wanting to get back to the girl.

Merlin started towards the steps at the same time as Arthur came rushing down them, struggling to put his shirt back on. Arthur managed to make it until he only had three steps left before tripping over his feet and falling face first onto the floor.

"Ow," Arthur groaned.

"My lord," Sasha called from the top of the stairs, her hair in complete shambles and with her dress askew.

"We're going now," Arthur ordered, frantically pulling himself up and pulling his shirt over his head. Stumbling over to Tristan, Arthur pulled the blonde off of his lap, "'scuse me," he told he, "we're leavin'."

"Why?" Tristan whined. "We were jus' startin' to have fun."

"Now," Arthur reaffirmed before grabbing Tristan by the ear and pulling him towards the door.

"Ow! Knock it off!"

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted as he left The Spirited Pony.

"Ow! I am right here, you don't have to yell," Merlin responded from the left of Arthur.

"Good, now how do we get back to the castle?" Arthur asked.

Merlin was surprised at how sober Arthur sounded, but he couldn't miss the sway that Arthur seemed to have as he tried to stand up straight. "I'll take us there."

It had been twenty minutes and they had made it into the castle unseen (Merlin would never know how), and they were trying to get up to the prince's chambers. By now any amount of sobriety that Arthur had because of the adrenaline was now long gone and he was having a difficult time walking, let alone trying to help Tristan walk.

"Just a few more staircases," Merlin panted as he held onto his queasy stomach.

"Too…many…" Arthur replied, collapsing on the steps in exhaustion, bringing Tristan with him. By now Tristan might as well have passed out, the only reason he had been moving at all was because of Arthur, now he just lay on the cool steps, unmoving.

"We have too…get up there," Merlin informed him, trying to make the staircase stop spinning by closing his eyes.

The three boys sat in silence, one passed out, the other two practically laying on the steps. They were prepared to just stay on the staircase when they heard voices.

"I had a great time tonight, it is really nice to be able to talk to someone about all of this."

"Anytime you need to talk, my lady, I will be around."

"Thank you, Gwen. I hope I didn't…what in the world!?"

Morgana and Gwen had rounded the corner to see Arthur, Merlin, and Tristan sitting, or laying, halfway up the staircase.

"What happened?" Gwen half question, half exclaimed as her and Morgana rushed down the stairs.

"I don't know," Morgana confessed as she reached them, it wasn't until she got closer that she could smell the ale on them. Laughing she looked at Gwen, "They're drunk."

Gwen joined in with Morgana's laughter and knelt by a sullen looking Merlin.

"Not drunk," Merlin said defensively.

"Of course not," Gwen answered with a slight smile. The way Merlin's hair fell in his face and the pouting look that he had made him look like a child who wasn't getting his way. "Why don't we help you all get in bed?"

"Should we ask some guards for help?" Morgana asked Gwen.

"No!" Arthur shouted out, even drunk he knew that his father couldn't find out about this.

"Okay then, I suppose we can just help you by ourselves," Gwen said, offering Merlin help up.

Merlin immediately smiled and put his hand in Gwen's offered one and allowed her to help pull him up. "Not so fast," he complained as he wobbled for a moment.

"He likes shoe," Tristan mumbled, his face pressed against the marble stair.

"Do not!" Merlin argued, it took him longer than usual to realize that might sound wrong. "I mean, I do, but…shut up, Tristan."

"Merlin, do you think you can walk?" Gwen asked, pretending like Merlin's and Tristan's conversation didn't happen.

"Think so."

"Good. Morgana, if you can help Prince Arthur, I will try to help Prince Tristan."

Morgana knelt over Arthur and debated on how to help him, he was so much bigger than her, not to mention he didn't look like he was going to be particularly helpful. Glancing over at Gwen she saw her slide her hand around Tristan's waist and then helped support him as he stumbled up the stairs. Deciding to try it, Morgana slid her hand around Arthur's waist and nearly jumped back in surprise as he giggled slightly.

Giggled? Since when did Arthur giggle?

Trying it again, she once again heard him giggle, and this time it was unmistakable. "You're ticklish," she realized with a smile.

"Am not," Arthur replied, wiping all tracing of laughter from his face.

Morgana let it drop as she was having a hard enough time supporting Arthur to find a witty response. It took another ten minutes before she was pushing open the doors to Arthur's chambers, Merlin trailing behind to slump down on one of the chairs, promptly falling asleep with his head in his hands.

Lowering Arthur onto his bed Morgana was about to leave when Arthur lightly grabbed her wrist. "Thanks, for not leaving us on the stairs," he told her quietly, sleep finally starting to overtake him.

"Don't worry about it," Morgana replied, equally as soft. As Arthur's eyes dropped shut Morgana was amazed by the transformation. Instead of a great prince, a great warrior, dutiful son, he was just Arthur. The blond fringe of his hair brushing across his face, his long, dark eyelashes resting lightly against his cheekbones, his hard body relaxing into sleep…the love bites on his neck. Looking closer Morgana could see that not only did he have some on his neck, but they appeared to go down below his shirt.

* * *

A/N: I just decided to have some fun with the chapter. Big baddie in the next one. Promise…again. Well, I hoped you guys liked it!

I think for once I am going to be horribly annoying and ask for reviews. So many people are reading it, and while I absolutely love the reviews I am getting, I would like some more feedback. I would really like to get at least 10 reviews for this chapter before I post another one. However, if I finish one before reaching ten I will still post. I know, not much motivation, but I don't think it is fair to withhold the chapter. Oh and cookies, I can give you cookies if you review.

Honest opinions are always welcome and appreciated!


	19. Chapter 19

Me? -points at self- You want to sacrifice _me_ to the story gods? …Well…I suppose at this point I deserve it. In all seriousness, I am so completely sorry. The end of school killed me, literally, I became a walking corpse for a while there. And as per usual, that isn't my only excuse, I also started watching Doctor Who (this poor story always gets put aside for new shows). I became completely enamored with it and lost all the characters of Merlin. I literally could not write them or think of any storyline. However, after watching some episodes and rereading my entire story, I think I have come up with a hopefully mildly satisfying chapter. If there is anyone still out there reading this, you are amazing and I am truly sorry for being lame.

* * *

"Merlin?" Gaius called out to Merlin's empty chamber. Arthur had not made an appearance at the breakfast before the start of the tournament and Uther had asked Gaius to check up on him, and Gaius figured that it would be best to check with Merlin first. Not seeing Merlin, Gaius decided to try Arthur's chamber, perhaps it was just taking longer to get Arthur's armor on than usual.

It only took Gaius a few minutes to reach Arthur's room, his knocks going unanswered. Deciding to peek his head in, Gaius was shocked to find Merlin sprawled out on the floor, in danger of drowning in a puddle of his own drool. Gaius glanced up to the prince's bed and was dismayed to find its owner sprawled out with his face smashed into a pillow, mouth agape with loud snores reverberating through the room. Hurrying over to Merlin, Gaius shook his shoulder hard and harshly whispered, "Merlin!"

"Hguff," Merlin snorted as he shot up from his position on the floor; he immediately regretted it as the room spun around and he had to fight the urge to rid his body of the ale he had drank the night before.

"Did you go drinking last night?" Gaius demanded, not giving him a chance to answer before he was firing off another question, "Why isn't Arthur up and ready? The tournament is starting soon."

Merlin's eyes grew wide before the darted to the bed that Arthur was currently occupying, "I…uh…" he stammered as tried to get his brain to function long enough to think of a plan.

"I'd start by waking him up," Gaius suggested before turning to leave.

"Wait!" Merlin half-yelled. "Can't you help?" He asked in desperation, using the edge of Arthur's bed to pull himself up.

Gaius didn't respond as he closed the door behind him, leaving a panicked looking Merlin staring at an unresponsive prince.

* * *

Gwen and Morgana were settling into their seats to watch the tournament, it appeared that everyone who could had turned up to watch the tournament in honor of Arthur's birthday. Morgana had spent the morning at breakfast, talking with the knights who were competing; well, the knights minus Tristan and Arthur who Uther had made excuses for. One knight in particular, Sir Cadoc had proven himself to be pleasurable company. He appeared to be a few years older than Arthur, and he had surprised her by remembering Gwen's name from a previous encounter.

Gwen turned towards Morgana and broke her from her thoughts, "Do you need anything, my lady?"

"No, thank you, Gwen," Morgana replied without hesitation.

"I wonder how Tristan and Arthur are going to do in the tournament today," Gwen attempted at conversation, Morgana had acting strange all morning.

Morgana huffed slightly and immediately imagined Arthur as he was being unhorsed; she smiled broadly at Gwen, "We will just have to wait and see."

* * *

"Arrrrthurrrr," Merlin dragged out as he attempted to pull the blankets out from around the prince.

"Goamay," Arthur mumbled, shoving his face further into his pillows.

"Arthur, the tournament is starting, your tournament!" Merlin frantically told him as he fought his stomach. Merlin groaned as he realized Arthur had fallen asleep again. 'He's gonna kill me,' Merlin thought as he grabbed a carafe of water that was on the table next to Arthur's bed.

"Wha!" Arthur exclaimed in shock as cold water hit the back of his head and ran down his neck. Flying out of bed in shock, Arthur immediately fell on the ground as the room spun in a manner similar to what Merlin had experience a few minutes prior. "Ugh," Arthur grunted as he drew his knees to his chest and put his head on them.

"No, no, no," Merlin declared as he stumbled over to Arthur, "You have to get ready, no resting."

"Merlin, be quiet," Arthur hissed at Merlin, trying to quell his pounding head.

"There is no time for shhing, you're late."

"For?" Arthur mumbled, his head still on his knees.

"Your tournament, ring any bells?" Merlin asked.

Arthur's head flew off of his knees and he stared at Merlin in shock, "What?"

"No time for questions either, just getting you ready," Merlin replied, hauling over pieces of Arthur's armor.

Arthur used a nearby chair to haul himself off the ground and blinked rapidly as the room spun again. Swallowing hard, Arthur forced himself to focus on a single spot in the room. Finally the rest of the room slid into place, just in time for Merlin to start running around, attempting to attach pieces of his armor. "Merlin," Arthur ground out, his teeth clenched together.

"Just a second," Merlin replied, struggling with Arthur's vambrace before running off for the next piece.

"Merlin," Arthur tried again, his eyes glued to one spot in the room, "stop…moving around."

Merlin halted halfway through attaching another piece of armor, "How am I supposed to get you ready if I can't move?"

"I don't know," Arthur ground out, "just stop."

Merlin decided to compromise by not walking in front of Arthur; after all, Merlin was feeling horrible, and he had significantly less to drink than Arthur had. "Done," Merlin announced a few minutes later, proud of the job he did under the circumstances.

Arthur took a deep breath before he began to make his way down to the tournament grounds, Merlin following closely by. Squinting as he made his way into the courtyard, Arthur kept his teeth clenched as he walked across it. Finally after the hardest three minutes of his life, Arthur made it to the grounds where his horse was already waiting for him, held by Gaius.

"I thought that you might need a little help getting ready this morning, Sire," Gaius said with a hint of amusement.

"Uh," Arthur started lamely, "thank you."

"Not a problem," Gaius replied, withholding a large grin and handing the reins to Merlin. "Good luck, Sire."

Arthur gave Gaius a small nod as he left.

"I feel…horrible," a voice groaned out from behind Arthur and Merlin. They both turned to see a slightly green Tristan slowly making his way over to them.

"Know the feeling," Arthur replied.

"I'm actually feeling a bit better," Merlin chimed in, smiling innocently when the two princes turned to glare at him. "What? It isn't like _I_ drank the inn dry."

"You know what, Merlin?" Tristan asked.

"No, what?"

"I like you a lot less right now than I did yesterday," Tristan informed him.

Merlin shrugged his shoulders, "You win some, you lose some."

"When the world stops spinning, I am going to show you who loses," Tristan emptily threatened.

"No use," Arthur threw in, "he never learns."

"Still standing here," Merlin interjected before they could start talking about ways to get him to listen.

"Unfortunately," Arthur quipped as he tightened his fist, not in anger, but in an attempt to stop his stomach from rolling over.

Merlin's response was never heard as the trumpets rang out, signally for the knights to mount and line up to listen to Uther's opening address.

Tristan wandered back over to his tent and Arthur started the task of mounting his horse. Sliding his left foot into the saddle, Arthur hopped a couple of times to get the momentum to swing into the saddle. Without the armor, mounting was easy, but with it, it added enough weight to make things difficult…not to mention with every bounce of his foot, Arthur could feel his stomach turn more and more. Merlin stepped in after two minutes of Arthur trying to mount.

"Wha-!" Arthur shouted as he got an unexpected boast mid-bounce. Instead of swinging gracefully into the saddle, Arthur couldn't catch himself and slid off the other side of his horse.

"Oops," Merlin supplied meekly as Arthur lay on his back.

"Oops?" Arthur grumbled as he slowly pushed himself off the ground. "I'll show you oops…oops, you just tripped down some stairs, oops you just fell into the river, oops you just ran into my sword!" Each scenario getting louder until Arthur winced at the volume of his own voice. "Just get me up there."

* * *

"Knights of the realm," Uther addressed the mounted knights below him, "we are here today not only to test your courage, but to honor my son, Prince Arthur!"

Uther gestured to his son who, that while he was glad was actually there, was looking pale and was clutching the front of his saddle with whitening knuckles. Not knowing his son to get nervous, Uther worried briefly for a moment that Arthur might be ill, but then figured that if he were that bad that Gaius would have mentioned it.

"Throughout the next three days your courage and fortitude will be tested and only the best shall advance through to become the tournament champion! If you…"

* * *

Arthur used one hand to grip his helmet and the other to hold onto the reins and his saddle at the same time. As his father droned on, Arthur was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain his position. A quick glance at Tristan proved that he to was having difficulties. Focusing on staying on his horse, Arthur was surprised to hear the end of his father's speech.

"…tournament begin!"

All of the knights had started to clear the lists when Tristan clumsily slid from his horse and stumbled to the edge of the dirt, right in front of Uther and Morgana, and promptly emptied the contents of his stomach.

Morgana and Gwen recoiled as the stench hit them, but Uther just leveled Tristan with a hard stare and a raised eyebrow when he was finished. The entire crowd was silent as Tristan gave Uther a hesitant smile, "Bad meat?"

A number of knights and people in the crowd laughed, giving Tristan the opportunity to get away with it, "Promise it won't happen again," he said as he slipped back to his horse.

Uther just took looked more closely at Arthur who still maintained his death grip on the saddle.

The pounding of hooves masked Arthur's heavy panting as he heaved the lance into position; panting that turned into gasping as Arthur's lance barely struck Sir Galet, while Galet's struck him solidly on the chest, nearly unhorsing him. There was a smattering of applause as members of the crowd whispered to each other, they had never seen their prince struggle this hard, especially not in the first round. The first time down the lists, neither Arthur, nor Galet had broken their lances, just grazed each other; this meant that Arthur needed to unhorse him if he were going to advance.

Grabbing a new lance from Merlin, Arthur stared down the lists at Galet, forcefully pushing all of his ailments aside for the next minute. As the flag was raised and he spurred his horse forward, Arthur didn't take his eyes off of Galet as he positioned his lance, pulled his arm back, and thrust forward at the perfect moment. From the roar of the crowd, Arthur didn't have to look back to know that Galet had been unhorsed. Tossing the broken lance to Merlin, Arthur took off his helmet and gave a quick wave of acknowledgement to the crowd before riding off the lists and to his tent.

"Good job," Merlin congratulated as he grabbed Arthur's horse, trying him to a post. "I almost thought you were going to lose for a minute."

Merlin followed Arthur into his tent and began taking off the armor, "I mean, it wasn't looking too good there. You should have seen the look on your father's face when you missed the second time…Arthur?"

Arthur just stared blankly at Merlin before turning at the last second and finally allowing his stomach to empty.

"Oh…that's just disgusting," Merlin gagged as he covered his mouth with the back of his hand.

* * *

Still worth continuing?


	20. Chapter 20

Thank you for all of the amazing reviews! This is a cross between a filler chapter and some character development…hope you enjoy!

* * *

Merlin watched from the side as Arthur and Tristan stood in front of a pacing Uther. The first round of the tournament had ended an hour before and it wasn't long before Arthur had been requested in the throne room, and apparently Tristan as well. Thankfully, it had been long enough that both princes were beginning to look steadier on their feet, and neither one had emptied their stomachs again.

"I would really like an explanation for the pathetic attempts at jousting that the two of you just displayed to the whole of Camelot." Uther's voice dropped in volume as he pinned the two princes with a stare, "And it had better be good."

Arthur and Tristan swallowed simultaneously and glanced at one another. Arthur didn't have any clue what to say, it wasn't often that he disobeyed his father or went behind his back, and even less so when it was for something silly like a night at the inn.

Tristan saw Arthur avert his gaze to his feet and knew that he wouldn't be coming up with anything helpful anytime soon. "Well, it happened like this, we heard some reports of…beasts in the lower town and figured we should check them out ourselves, save the guards the trip in case it turned out to be nothing. When we got down there, there was this HUGE animal, looked like a cross between a bear and a rabbit…"

The start of a chuckle could be heard and the entire group turned to look at Merlin who widened his eyes in innocence and threw in a slight shrug to top it off.

"_Any_ways, as I was saying, this beast was like nothing I had ever seen before, and obviously since his ears were so large he was able to hear us before we even saw him. We broke apart to circle around it, dodging swipes of his paws as we went. We were mid-battle with it when it became scared and started taking massive hops out of the city. We were forced to follow it out of Camelot, chasing it into the woods where it took us nearly till dawn to find and slay it. By the time we made it back into the city, we barely had time to prepare for the tournament, our exhaustion the reason for our poor performances."

Arthur bit down on the side of his cheek as he forced himself not to laugh at the ridiculous story that Tristan had just tried to sell.

"Is that so?" Uther asked, his tone slightly dangerous.

"Yes?" Tristan answered hesitantly.

"Do you have anything to add, Arthur?"

"No, Sire," Arthur replied quickly.

"I have my own theory on what happened last night," Uther said, turning away from them to resume his pacing. "I think the two of you snuck out of the castle, went to one of the inns, and once there," he turned back to them, "acted like a pair of complete IDIOTS!"

Now Tristan joined Arthur in his pursuit to stare a hole into his boots.

"The night before a tournament, the night before a tournament honoring you," Uther added, directing his attention fully towards his son, "with knights representing almost all the noble families, and this is the way you want to be perceived? Indifferent towards your responsibilities, preferring to have fun, drink, and enjoy the company of whatever barmaid happens to cross your path?"

"It wasn't…" Arthur started, his jaw clenched.

"I don't want to hear it!" Uther shouted. "I don't want any excuses! Those won't do us any good as the rumors about your performance and the state you were in earlier spread throughout Camelot."

"My Lord," Tristan tried, trying to take some of Uther's attention away from Arthur.

"I don't want to hear anything out of you either!" Uther spat out. "I knew that with you in Camelot I was running the risk of Arthur doing something stupid, I just didn't know it would be so soon! I know that when you are in Tintagel you are able to do as you please, but I expected that while you were in Camelot you would refrain and maintain a small bit of decorum."

It was Tristan's turn to clench his teeth together.

"I want both of you out of my sight. Get cleaned up, I expect you both on time for dinner," Uther ended with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Sire," Arthur and Tristan mumbled with slight inclines of their heads before retreating out of the room, Merlin and an unknown servant of Tristan's following behind.

"Well," Tristan stated as they reached his chambers, "that was fun, hope to do it again soon."

Arthur didn't respond, but just continued walking towards his own room. Merlin slowed and gave Tristan an apologetic shrug; which Tristan replied to with a roll of his eyes to indicate that he wasn't surprised by Arthur's mood, nor he wasn't bothered by it.

Merlin and Arthur had almost reached Arthur's chambers when Morgana and Gwen crossed paths with them, halting their progress.

"That was a wonderful display of…well, at least you stayed on your horse," Morgana greeted viciously, still stinging over the marks that Arthur had on him after his night out…even if she couldn't pinpoint why it mattered.

"Not now, Morgana," Arthur ground out.

"Oh, don't be upset," Morgana continued, ignoring Merlin's urgent motions to stop, "it isn't like everyone is talking about it."

Arthur glared.

"In fact, I have seen two, maybe three people, who aren't. That has to count for something," she added with a smile.

Arthur clenched his fists and eased himself around Morgana, making sure not to touch her.

Gwen and Merlin glanced at one another, guilt covering both of their faces over the behaviors of Arthur and Morgana.

"I hope that you manage to do better tomorrow, otherwise you'll…" she didn't get the chance to finish.

"I'll what?" Arthur spat out, raising an eyebrow questioningly. "I'll be the laughing stock of Camelot? I'll be a disappointment to my father? I'd say that I would be miserable, but I have to marry you so it can't get any worse!"

Arthur didn't allow her the chance to respond, he just spun on his heel and resumed his march towards his chambers.

"I…" Merlin tried, walking backwards, "he didn't…he's just…" Merlin gestured randomly with his hands, before throwing them up and running after Arthur, "sorry!"

"My lady," Gwen gently prodded after a minute of Morgana standing in slightly stunned silence, "we should get you dressed for dinner."

"Yes," Morgana replied, mentally shaking herself, "thank you for reminding me."

* * *

"Don't," Arthur warned as Merlin slipped into his room. Arthur had already stripped off his armor before he had gone to see Uther, so all he had to do was slip his shirt over his head and gesture for Merlin to grab him a new one.

"I wasn't going to," Merlin replied, setting himself on the task of picking out a shirt Arthur would actually want to wear.

"I told you…wait, what?" Arthur stopped in surprise, before clearing his throat. "I mean, good," Arthur said, grabbing the first shirt that Merlin offered, glancing at it, and then dropping it on the ground.

"That was clean," Merlin murmured, picking it back up.

The silence stretched on in the room, Arthur just shaking his head every time Merlin offered him a different shirt. Finally after five minutes of this, Arthur nodded to the first shirt that Merlin had tried to offer him.

With an exasperated sigh as he handed over the shirt, Merlin mumbled, "I just think you were a bit harsh, that's all."

"I thought I told you not to," Arthur asked, pulling the blue shirt over his head, now grabbing a jacket off of a chair.

"You did, but maybe…"

"Not now, Merlin. If it will make you shut up, I will talk to Morgana after dinner," Arthur offered, just wanting to stew in his own misery for a while.

"Yeah, it will; that would be great in fact. You should also…"

"_Mer_lin," Arthur interjected.

"Oh right, no talking, I forgot, sor…"

"Will you _SHUT UP!_"


End file.
